NeXt Gen
by Nighty929
Summary: Season Two has begun. New characters to be introduced, old characters to be killed off and sent places. This season's three-parter special: A time-traveling mishap.
1. Dawning of a New Era

Here it is, folks, NeXt Gen. Hope it's as good as Mission X and just because this is a new story does NOT mean you are off the hook on reviewing obligations. So REVIEW.

The team as currently set up (new member to arrive shortly)

Ben (we all know him)  
Age: 15

Twitch  
Age: 14  
Powers: Teleportation, incredible agility  
Twitch can be locked up pretty much anywhere and get out of it okay. He's jittery and nervous, and afraid to show his true demonic form even to his teammates. He never knew his parents.

Chloe Hayes  
Age: 12  
Powers: Super Strength, invulnerability, flight  
The paragon of the group, Chloe is a real sweetie and her smile melts even the coldest hearts. Still isn't used to her powers and frequently breaks things.

Raven Voormann (Blackbird)  
Age: 15  
Power: Controls shadows, flight  
Raven is German, moody and quiet. It is BAD to cross her.

Johnny Summers  
Age: 14  
Power: Super Speed, limited telekinesis  
We all know little old Johnny, but now he's got an attitude!

Eevee Taylor

Age: 14

Power: Fire Generation and Control

Eevee, Dominique's little sister, is a wise-cracker and easy to amuse. She loves to laugh and smile but she has a REALLY quick temper. Not quick to forgive when she's crossed.

Episode One: Dawning of a New Era

FOUR YEARS LATER

Chloe fell to her knees and cried out in pain, shocked by the sudden blast to her back. She was hearing a ringing noise and she saw little spots in front of her eyes. Chin wobbling, she burst into a fit of sobs.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Ben stopped what he was doing to look at his crying teammate. "Chloe! What happened?"

"I fell," she sniffed. "I got hit and I fell." Ben walked over and held out a hand to help her. Once on her feet, he hit her lightly on the head, not hard enough to hurt her but enough to make her flinch. "Ow!" Why did you do that?"

"There's no crying on my team," He shouted. "And there is no falling down! I thought I made myself perfectly clear when we were being briefed, Magneto will not stop when you fall down to cry. You've never seen Magneto, Chloe?"

She shook her head.

"Never faced him, never fought him?"

She shook her head again.

"Well, I have, and trust me, this is not a game." Ben lifted her chin up with a finger. "Hey. This isn't a game, Chloe. Can you understand that?"

She sniffed. "Yes."

"Good. Now get out there and show these machines what you've got, okay?" Ben pushed her forward a little as he went back to his own training. Chloe flew into the air and lifted a huge tank twelve times as big as her, tossing it to the side as if it weighed nothing. Ben looked around at the other members of his team, standing around watching him. "Hey! Did anyone tell you to stop? Get back to work!"

……………………….

"I think he's too much of a bloody hard ass," Eevee groaned as she sat next to Chloe on the bench. They were both waiting for Raven to get out of the shower. "You don't have to listen to him, baby."

The twelve-year-old girl nodded slowly, wiping her eyes again. "I think he hates me," she said softly. "I think he hates me a whole lot, Eevee."

"I don't think so," Eevee patted her back lightly. "He's just trying to protect you, sweetie. He's right, you know… when's the last time Flash cut you any slack on the field?"

"He doesn't," Chloe said, used to this lecture.

"What about Ghost Step?"

"No."

"Four Arms?"

"Nope."

Eevee pushed the little girl's hair back and away from her freckled face. "There, now we see a smile, that's it." Chloe turned and smiled up at the older mutant. "Good girl."

"I am out," Raven stepped out of the shower dressed in her usual garb, black, black and more black. "You can shower now."

"Thank you," Chloe jumped up and ran into the shower.

"You did well today," Raven said, nodding to Eevee.

"Yeah, so did you." Eevee stood up. "You didn't even get yelled at one single time. Good job."

"That little issue with me dropping a car on your opponent, no big deal?" The goth girl really didn't like talking to Eevee, but she had to in order to keep the team on it's feet, according to Ben.

"Yeah, fine, just a simulation," Eevee put on a fake smile and nodded. "No big deal, it's okay."

"Alright," Raven said, leaving the room. Eevee laughed, looking around and noticing that Johnny was completely right. The room DID get brighter when that girl left it.

…………………………..

"Dude, you should have been watching your back. It's not MY fault you were being a total wuss." Johnny nudged Twitch playfully.

"I was NOT being a wuss," The furry blue mutant shoved his friend away.

"Was too."

"Was not!"

"Was TOO!"

"Hey guys," Ben walked in and the two boys fell completely silent. Ben looked at them and frowned. "What? Guys, I'm not like I am in the Danger Room ALL the time. You CAN be normal."

"I say you should loosen up in the Danger Room too," Johnny stood up. "What the heck is your deal, blowing up at Chloe like that? She's twelve, man, and none of us are as wiggy as you are about training."

"You should be!" Ben shouted. "You were there that night, you saw, you and Eevee both. You saw what Magneto did to Wartech."

"Oh no, not the speech," Twitch rolled his eyes.

"Oh yes, the speech," Ben shot a death glare at him. "The speech is important."

"But we've heard it a thousand times!" Johnny yelled in an exasperated voice. "We all know it by heart!"

"But obviously it hasn't sunk in yet," Ben said.

"Oh, is he giving the speech?" Eevee walked in with Chloe and Raven. "I LOVE the speech. How far is he?"

"He just started," Twitch folded his arms.

"Okay, you guys, look," Ben shouted over them. "Guys, seriously, chill. I'm not going to give the speech."

"Hallelujah," Johnny said, raising his arms and making Chloe giggle. "Somebody call Ripley's!"

"Shut up," Ben said. "Anyway, I just wanted to say good job."

"Really?" Twitch looked up, surprised.

"Except for you, Twitch, my friend," Ben smiled. "Johnny was right, you were kind of… being a wuss, dude."

"Aw, come ON!" Twitch cried. "The thing was going to KILL me."

"Dude, I got three words for you. Danger, Room, simulation." Ben laughed as Johnny patted Twitch's back lightly. "You would have been fine."

Twitch smiled sarcastically and took the ridicule like a good boy. It's not like he wasn't used to it. "I'm going to bed, guys," He said quietly, but no one was paying much attention. He shrugged and teleported to his room.

…………………..

"Did you eat?" Jean shouted over her shoulder as she heard her son sneak into the house.

"Rats," Johnny wandered into the little Summer's Quarters kitchen and sighed. "I can never get in here without you noticing.

Jean ruffled her son's red hair. "Of course not."

Johnny rolled his eyes. "Sure mom, I ate."

"You have to eat dinner," Jean said, ignoring his lie. "Come on, sit down. Good boy."

"Aw, mom, I'm not even hungry," Johnny whined, sitting at the table. "I want to go call dad."

"Sorry, sweetie, but your father's probably busy on his mission."

"But he said I could call whenever I wanted," Johnny wrinkled his nose at the meatloaf and spinach she put in front of him, then turned around in his seat to listen for the television. "Is Rachel still awake?" He asked. "Mom, it's nine!"

"I let her stay up a little." She said. "We were watching a movie together."

"But dad said she has to be in bed at eight." Johnny turned back around and poked at his food. "No mash potatoes?"

"No, you came in too late." Jean laughed as she went into the living room. "Eat slow! No super speed."

"Awww," Johnny called back.

Rachel, sweetie," She said to her four-year-old daughter. "Baby," Jean said again. The little girl's eyes were glued to the television. "Rachel?"

"Is daddy gunna be okay?" Rachel looked up at her mom. "You said he was gunna come home today.

"Uncle Kurt and daddy are fine," She said softly, scooping Rachel up and turning off the television. "They're just picking up a kid. They're fine."

……………………….

"I have GOT to stop leaving my kid with Kitty," Kurt said, looking over at Scott. "Do you know what Karl called her the other day? Mommy. Can you believe that?"

"And that's bad why?" Scott laughed. "We ALL know, you can stop trying to lie about it."

"What?" Kurt hit autopilot on the dashboard and rose an eyebrow, turning his whole seat to face his old friend. "Know what?"

"That you and Kitty have been seeing each other," Scott said through a snort. "Why are you still trying to hide it?"

"Hardee har har har," Kurt turned back to the dashboard angrily and turned off the autopilot. "Where the hell did you hear that bull shit?"

"Jean said something about it to Rogue and it got to me."

"One night at her place does not mean a thing, wise guy," Kurt growled. "I got there to pick up Karl at midnight, I slept on the couch. Nothing happened, Scott."

"Yeah," Scott nodded. "I believe you."

"We're landing," Kurt glowered. "Buckle up, friend."

Fifteen minutes later the two X-Men walked into a small bar in the little Kansas town. They glanced around and Kurt grabbed Scott's shoulder. "You sure this is the place? We're not going to find a kid in here."

"He's here," Scott said. "Just look around for the sixteen year old dressed as a cowboy like a weirdo."

"I heard that," Came a voice from the back of the room. A teenager dressed for the old west and a red bandana over the bottom half of his face stood up. Pulling a pistol, he pointed it at Scott. "Now, if I didn't know any better, I'll say you fellows were fixin' for a fight with Jonah Danger."

NEXT: Jonah Danger!

Well, what do you think? I know everyone's gunna just LOVE Jonah once I get chapter two out. Thank you for reading, again please review.


	2. Jonah Danger

Hello everybody! I present Episode 2 of NeXt Gen, where the characters become just a tad bit more real for you readers. And don't worry, Ben's just grown a shell, he's really still the same sweet little guy we knew in Mission X.

Episode Two: Jonah Danger

"Now, kid, you don't know what you're doing," Scott said, holding his hands in the air as a sign of surrender. People were realizing that there was a gun in the room and were quickly getting up to leave. "Just put the gun away, we aren't here to hurt you."

Jonah pointed the gun at Kurt, motioning for him to put his hands up too, and Kurt quickly obliged. "I think the gun can stay out and ya'll can leave," he said in a very convincing accent, convincing enough that Kurt for a moment actually believed he was from the old west. "I don't appreciate this intrusion of my civil rights."

"No one is intruding on anything," Kurt said desperately. The gun was making him nervous. "We just… we just want to talk. Is talking okay? Can we talk?"

The teenager narrowed his eyes. "Talk."

The bar was nearly empty as Scott stepped forward, arms still in the air. "Okay, Jonah. We can have a friendly conversation if you just let us sit with you and put the gun away." Jonah began to lower his weapon put aimed again as Kurt began to relax. "Please," Scott stepped forward again. "Just put it away."

Jonah moved his arm slowly, putting the gun on the table. "Alright," he said. "I put it down. Now talk."

"We're representatives of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters," Kurt said, relieved and lowering his arms. "We heard about you on the news, everyone's talking about what happened in Topeka."

"Those men provoked me," Jonah quickly defended. "The incident was purely self defense."

"We know," Scott pulled a chair over and sat down. "But we also heard how you got out of jail and actually stole a horse. You told the police you were born in… what year was it?"

"1869," Jonah said proudly.

"But if that were true, that would put us in 1885," Scott tried to reason. "It's not 1885, Jonah."

"I figured that out a few weeks ago in Topeka." Jonah sat down across from Scott in a casual way, and Kurt shuddered. This kid was really strange. "Strange motorized vehicles, buildings twenty stories high… I was scared. I got twitchy. A few guys startled me and tried to pick a fight with me, and that's the story."

"I think he needs help," Kurt said quietly. "Jonah, I think you need help."

"I don't need help, I need to get home," Jonah snapped at him. "And nobody has bothered to tell me what the year is."

Kurt shook his head. "Jonah… it's 2023."

Jonah blinked at him. "It's what?"

"He's telling the truth," Scott said. "If you are from 1885, you're one hundred and thirty eight years from home. If you're not from 1885, you need help. Either way, we can help you. We have a man who can find a way for you to go home, and we have another man to find out who you are. You win both ways."

Jonah looked from him to Kurt and back. "I know who I am. But… alright."

Scott smiled and held out a hand for Jonah to shake.

…………………………

Ben threw the ball and it bounced back after hitting the ceiling. He had hours to think, he didn't sleep. Throwing it again, it thudded against the wall and bounced back. He had hours to remember.

Things were different now, he knew it. His team wasn't Mission X. Aaron finally had gotten a spot on the team, on the X-Men. They had all wanted that spot at some point. Even him. But Catty and Steven had settled down, bought a house and had a baby. Alaina was a confused teenager that didn't know what she wanted in life anymore. Sara was thinking about moving to New York City with her girlfriend Julie. Tara was an insurance agent, a God damn insurance agent with her potential. Who the Hell knew what was going on with Kish and Dominique, they broke up and got back together at least twice a week and the last time anyone saw them was last Christmas.

What the Hell happened to us, he thought. We were going to be great.

He started NeXt Gen so he could finish what Magneto started, but these kids… these kids would never make it. Chloe was too young, Johnny was too reckless, Twitch was too emotional. He thought maybe Raven could handle it if she stopped fighting with Eevee. Eevee, now there was a problem. Ben rolled over and tried not to think about it. Eevee was most definitely a later problem.

………………….

Eevee sang along to her CD as she cleaned her room, dancing around in a t-shirt and shorts. She was happy right where she was, no worries. She could be whoever she wanted to be in America. She loved her father, but she wasn't happy at home with him, even the few days she spent with him at Christmas were agonizing. She was a superhero here. She was amazing here.

She snapped her fingers and lit the aroma therapy candle on the other side of the room. So easy now that she had been practicing it, she didn't even have to think about it. "Sooo contagious, cannot get it outta my mind," she sang.

She stopped singing when someone knocked on her door, but she didn't stop dancing. She opened the door, and, still dancing, went back to dusting her desk. Ben stood there with his hands in his pockets. "Your music is way too loud," He said, trying to make his scratchy voice heard over the CD.

"What?" She called back.

"I said your music is way too loud!" He shouted with some strain. His voice had always been weak, but that was, as Eevee had put it a year ago, 'real cute.'

She turned it down and continued to dance. "Anything else you wanted?"

"No," Ben said. "Actually, yes. Why did you…" He stopped to watch her dance around him in a circle, trying to clean her bookshelf. "Would you stop that?" Ben said, glowering. "It's extremely distracting."

"Loosen up," She laughed, ruffling his thick, longish and extremely messy brown hair. "Have some fun. Hey, dance with me." She took his hand and danced more, and Ben's ears turned red.

"No," He said. "No, I'm not going to…"

"Come on, one song."

"No…" Ben watched her twirl herself on his arm. "I can't. I can't dance."

"You can't dance?" Eevee let go of him, laughing. "I can't believe you don't know how to dance. Let me show you some moves."

"No, I have work to do." Ben turned around and started to leave, highly annoyed with the situation and with Eevee. He made sure to slam the door and leaned against it, trying to calm down. She made him so mad sometimes. Just mad, so angry his head throbbed with loss of control. At this stage of development, he had to take pills and meditate for an hour daily in order to keep his telepathy stable. His mind was too powerful even for Xavier to dig around in his head. The old man was too weak to dig around in his head anyway.

He glanced at the stairs leading to Xavier's office and bedroom. His glasses glinted sadly. He refused to stop working, refused to stop doing paperwork, refused to stop taking in kids. Cyclops and Nightcrawler had offered again and again to take over the school so he could retire, but the Professor would not stop.

He shook his head to clear it. He couldn't think about that right now.

……………………………

Twitch was hanging from the light fixture in his room, listening to an old Green Day CD and reading as best he could, enjoying the sensation of the blood rushing to his head. His tail tightened around it a little, turning the page. He loved to read, especially pirate books. That way he could practice fencing and speak like a sea man at the same time.

The phone rang, and he teleported to the ground to grab it. "Hello?" He asked. There was no answer. "Um, hello?"

"Is Peter home?" Asked a voice he didn't recognize. A girl, with a sweet-sounding giggly voice.

"Um, you might have the wrong number," Twitch said, trying to figure out where he had heard that voice.

"Oh, I'm totally sorry. Who did I get?"

"This is Xavier's School on the hill."

"Oh, the freak house?"

Twitch looked out the window, feeling the sting of the word and glad that he wasn't talking to this girl in person. He hated the word freak, had heard it a thousand times growing up.

The girl heard his silence and quickly realized her mistake. "Oh, I am so sorry, that's, like, what they call it at school, I didn't mean…"

"It's okay, I know what you meant," he said quietly, wiping his nose on his sleeve. There was no way he was going to get the sniffles on the phone.

"So… what's your name?"

"What do you care, this is a freak house, which makes me a freak, right?" Twitch was more upset than angry, but he wasn't about to let some preppy cheerleader know that.

"I'm Dani, if that helps," she said bitterly.

He softened at her tone, realizing that she really didn't mean what she said. "I'm Twi… Jake. I'm Jake."

"Nice to dial a wrong number and accidentally meet you, Jake," she said, sounding a bit more cheery. "Do you go to Bayville High?"

"Yeah," He said, glancing at his image inducer on his wrist. Such thin protection.

"Well, find me on Monday," she said. "We can eat lunch or something. I don't feel like I've properly apologized."

"Er, how am I supposed to…?"

"Trust me, I'm easy to find. Just ask anyone." And then Dani hung up.

Twitch looked at the phone in confusion. What a strange, strange girl this Dani must be.

……………………….

Johnny ran to get the door at midnight the moment his father got down the main hallway. "Dad," he breathed as he walked into the foyer of the Summer's quarters.

"Hey, sport," Scott ruffled his hair. "Where's your mom?"

"Sleeping on the couch," Johnny said proudly. "Still the champion of waiting up for you!"

"Well, be quiet. I don't want her to wake up." Scott motioned for Kurt and Jonah. "Kurt's going to sleep in the living room tonight, but before Jean gets up, we have to get this kid in your room, okay?"

"Huh?" Johnny said, watching Kurt lead the new kid in. The boy had a freaking BANDANA over the bottom half of his face. Johnny wrinkled his nose. "He's gunna sleep in MY room?"

Jonah put a hand on his gun. "I'm sensing some hostility here."

"Hey, is that a gun?" Johnny said, backing away.

"Jonah. Not here." Scott put a hand on the new kid's shoulder. Jonah relaxed and let go of his gun.

"No way he's taking my room!"

"It's just for tonight, it's okay. Besides, you have a bunk bed in there, it's no problem, right? You can share." Scott patted his son's shoulder. "There. Now show Jonah here to the room, okay?"

Johnny led Jonah into the bedroom and closed the door, turning around to face him. "Hey, let's get one thing straight, okay? You gotta earn a place on this team. Not my rule, but for once I'm glad that rule exists. You better not screw up the team."

"What team?" Jonah pulled off the bandana and frowned at him, sitting on the bottom bunk. "I just want to go home."

Johnny blinked. "What?"

The sixteen year old patted the side of the bed. "Here, let me tell you a story…"

NEXT: Rebel

Please review. I think this story is off to a good start, and there will be some more Raven in chapter 3, I promise. No goth girls shall be left out in this story!


	3. Rebel

_Okay, here's a chapter of NeXt Gen for everybody, because you all have been waiting so patiently. I PROMISE it has a plot._

Episode 3: Rebel

"Jonah."

"Hmm?"

"Jonah, you have to pay attention."

He turned his head to look at Scott with a dazed look. He had been imagining home, beautiful home in 1885. "What?"

Scott put the car in park and sighed. "Listen. This place is a school. In order for you to lie low, you have to attend school with your fellow students. But you also have to behave like a normal, modern teenager."

"Oh really?" Jonah said, yawning.

"Yes. That means no guns, no bandanas, and no mentioning your place of origin." Scott pulled the red bandana off of his face, causing Jonah to shout in anger. "Now, you can live without it for eight hours, can't you?" Scott pleaded. "Please, Jonah. Eight hours a day."

Jonah growled. "At least let me take it with me. It belonged to my father."

"Of course," Scott smiled, handing it back to him. "But you can't put it on, okay? Promise you won't wear it until AFTER school lets out."

"Alright, alright, I've been to school before, I can handle it," Jonah said, opening the car door. "Will you be picking me up?"

"Yes, just meet me right here," Scott patted the boy's shoulder and watched him get out. "Good luck."

Jonah watched the car leave and was suddenly aware of someone behind him. He reached for his gun instinctively, but saw that it was only Johnny Summers. "Why didn't YOU get a ride to school?" he asked.

"I don't NEED a ride to school," Johnny said proudly. "I can just RUN here."

"Of course," Jonah said, feeling out of place for the fifth time since he arrived at the Xavier Institute. "I… FORGOT about the… MUTANT thing." He had never heard of a mutant before he had gotten to this timeline, and he found himself constantly surprised and awed by the other children in the house.

Johnny suddenly waved. "Twitch! I'm over here!"

Jonah sighed. Twitch frightened him to some extent. But when the strange-looking boy joined them, he looked completely normal. Jonah blinked in surprise at this sudden new ability. "What… how did you…"

"This thing," Twitch said, holding up his wrist and showing off his image inducer. "It makes me look normal."

Jonah suddenly spotted Ben. At this point, Ben was the only one in the school that seemed normal in some sense of the word, and he hadn't once made fun of the fact that he was from the old west. Jonah waved good bye to Twitch and Johnny and ran to meet him.

"Hey," said Ben, looking around as if waiting for someone.

"Hi," Jonah said, suppressing his accent as best he could. "Are you looking for somebody?"

"Yeah, usually Eevee meets me here so we can walk to Bio lab together," Ben said in a distracted voice. "It's the only class we have together, actually. Thank GOD Twitch and I have the same lunch hour."

"This place is… BIGGER than the schools at home," Jonah said, helping Ben to look for Eevee. "It's so crowded."

"Ben!" Eevee suddenly appeared from the crowd and ran to greet them. "Hi guys," she said, and was surprised when Jonah held out his hands. "What?"

"Your books, ma'am," he said. "Let me carry them."

"Oh," she said, giggling a little. "Um, okay."

Ben watched with narrowed eyes as Jonah took the English girl's books, but he reverted to a somewhat happy face when she looked at him again. "By the way, I'm not going to Bio lab today, apparently I have a meeting with the principle. He wants to talk to me, though I can't imagine why it would take a bloody hour to talk."

"Maybe you did something wrong," Ben said, laughing. "I wouldn't be surprised if it took an hour to go over your record in the office."

"Ha ha," she said bitterly. "Jonah, what do you have for first period?"

"Um, apparently study hall in the library," Jonah said, looking miserably at his schedule. "O' course, I've got no IDEA where THAT is."

"I'll take you," Eevee said, smiling. "Bye Ben!"

"Bye," Ben said, frowning.

…………………………….

Twitch ducked into the Alley by the school, breathing heavily. Damn image inducer, he thought. It had turned off twice already. On the fritz, on the fritz all the time and it was starting to get on his nerves.

He breathed a sigh of relief when it started up again. When he turned around, he nearly screamed. There was a girl standing there. "Um," he said, slightly shocked. "Uh, hi." He hoped, hoped to GOD she hadn't seen him before the inducer started working again.

The girl stood there. She didn't say anything, but she tilted her head to the side, and her long straight red hair flowed over her shoulder.

"Hi," he tried again. Then he thought, what the Hell. "Do you know where I can find someone named Dani?"

"Jake?" she said in a soft voice. "You're Jake?"

"You're Dani?" Twitch said nervously.

"Yes," She smiled. "Hi."

The image inducer sparked. Then it shut off completely. Looking from it to her in terror, he suddenly realized she hadn't reacted. "Uh," he said. "Can you not SEE me?"

"No," she said, laughing a little. "I'm blind."

Just to make sure, he waved a hand around in her face. Her face fell and she looked angry. "You did NOT just wave your hand around in my face," she said in a hurt and angry voice.

"I was just…" Twitch stepped back, and the image inducer flickered back to life. "Sorry. I just thought…"

"It's okay, I'm sort of used to it," Dani said, pushing her hair off her shoulder. "I just thought you sounded nicer than that on the phone." She tapped her cane on the ground until it nudged his foot. "There you are," she said, smiling.

"Hi," Twitch said, not knowing what else to say to her. She giggled and covered her mouth.

"Um, will you walk me to my class?" she said. "I seem to have lost my way, and…"

"Sure," he said, glad that he didn't have to talk anymore. "Come on."

……………………………….

Eevee was sat down in front of Principle Wyatt's desk, and she immediately began to fidget nervously. Of course she had done something wrong. Why ELSE would she be here? Looking at her shoes instead of at the Principal's face, she sighed. "What did I do THIS time?"

"Absolutely nothing," Principal Wyatt put his hands together and leaned forward, obviously uncomfortable. "Tell me, are you in contact with your sister?"

"Sort of," Eevee thought about it. She hadn't seen her sister since last Christmas, and the last letter was three months ago. "Why?"

"I was hoping we wouldn't have to be the ones to pass on the message," The old man sighed, taking off his glasses to clean them. "I know this will be hard, but it's my responsibility to inform you that your parents are dead."

Eevee sat silent for a few moments, trying to decipher what had been said. "I'm sorry?" she said weakly.

"Your father was found late last night in his apartment," Principal Wyatt continued. "He had overdosed on sleeping pills. Your mother was found two weeks ago and identified last Wednesday. I apologize for your loss."

Eevee felt the tears and struggled to hold them back. "Dad…?"

"Your sister should also know that HER father was also found dead," Principal Wyatt shook his head. "Shame. And a rather odd coincidence if you ask me. Are you alright, miss Taylor?"

Eevee looked out the window and nodded. Picking up her bag, she headed for the door.

"You can go home if you like, I am not going to force you to stay here at school," Principal Wyatt said, looking at her with concern.

"Thank you," Eevee murmured. "See you tomorrow, Principal Wyatt."

…………………………………

Raven sat alone after school on the steps in front of the school, waiting for Eevee or a ride to come along. She didn't have the energy to fly home and she didn't want to ride the bus after last time. _Witch, witch, mutie witch._ She shuddered. No more people would throw lunch at her.

She was still looking around when she saw Ben and Johnny messing around across the field, and she sighed. "Great. If dey see me, dey'll come over here." She muttered to herself. She tried her best to pull her jacket around her tighter, hoping she could be hidden from sight by black leather.

She spotted Windstrider's car before the boys did, thank the Lord, and she ran towards it frantically. "Hey," Aaron Williams said as she jumped into the passenger seat. "Are we waiting for anyone else or…?"

"Go," Raven said simply.

"Okay," Aaron shrugged. Ben sure had made some weird friends when Mission X grew up and disbanded. "If you hear a noise, don't worry, it's just my piece of crap car trying to die."

Raven looked out the window, trying to ignore the only member of Ben's old team who had made it to the big leagues. Teacher though he was, he was sort of annoying and never shut up.

"How was school?"

"It vas fine," She said. "I am trying to think."

"Okay, sure," Aaron shrugged. The kid wanted quiet, so what?

He rounded a corner and the car came to a dead stop. Nothing had made any noise, and the car was still running, but it wouldn't move forward. He looked out the window to see what was happening and realized that the car was no longer on the road. It hovered a few feet off the ground, wheels still spinning desperately. "What the Hell…?" he asked quietly.

Raven looked at him. "Vhat is going on?" she asked. "I sense a hostile mutant presence."

"Of course you do," Aaron said angrily. "Would you do me a favor and be quiet for a second, I'm trying to…"

The car dropped before he had the chance to listen on his winds, jolting both mutants painfully. The car coughed and died from the stress. "Shit!" Aaron cried.

"Do you think it is Magneto?" Raven asked, suddenly afraid.

"If it was Magneto, we'd be sardines already," Aaron whispered. "Just stay calm, everything's fine, I got it under…"

"Control?" Came a voice from above them. "Oh, dear, I'm afraid that's something you'll never have."

"It's a kid," Aaron rolled his eyes. "A kid I can handle."

Two feet planted themselves on the hood of the car, untied converse sneakers shining with blue rhinestones. As the mutant crouched down to look in on them, Aaron pushed back into his seat. Her blue eyes flashed, her thirteen-year-old form thin and athletic, her long, glimmering silver hair flowing past her waist. Aaron's eyes widened as the windshield shattered outward, not scratching the girl at all. Kaylee Williams was quite safe from glass projectiles.

"Heya, big brother," she said with a grin. "How's KICKS?"

NEXT: Family Matters

_What did you guys think? I worked really hard on this, please review!_


	4. Family Matters

_Hello and welcome to Chapter Four!_

Episode 4: Family Matters

Kaylee laughed at Aaron's shocked face. "Didja miss me?"

"Kaylee, what the Hell are you doing in Bayville?!" Aaron cried, moving his head as a glass shard flew past his face. "I thought you were in Beverly Hills with Ma and Dad!" Kaylee's eyes glimmered and she leaned into the car, looking into Aaron's green eyes.

"Maybe THEY thought I was here with YOU."

"But what are you DOING here?!"

"Taking control of my life," she shouted. "Is that so wrong? It's MY life and everyone wants to run it FOR me! I won't spend another DAY under someone else's thumb!" Aaron leaned back into his seat as she yelled. "Do you know what Daddy dearest DID to me after we got to California?!"

"You said he kept you home, you e-mailed me and said you were fine," Aaron said weakly. What was wrong with his baby sister?

"He dropped me off at an orphanage and drove away!" Kaylee cried, tears forming on her angry face. "I called, 'wait!' but he didn't even look back!"

"Why didn't you TELL me?" Aaron said, trying to calm her down. He reached a hand for her cheek and she pushed it away. "Kaylee, why didn't you say something? You could have stayed here with me, I could have taken care of you!"

"I don't NEED anyone to take care of me anymore," she said, pushing herself out of the car and floating in front of it. Aaron was amazed by her control. Who taught her to move with such grace and speed? Who taught her to use her telekinesis? "I can take care of myself!"

"But you don't have to be alone," Aaron said.

"I'm NOT alone," Kaylee's eyes were glowing with power. "I have a NEW teacher now. Someone who won't step on my life like it's nothing. Someone who won't treat me like a baby!"

"Oh no," Aaron murmured. "This is NOT happening to me."

"Not to you," Kaylee grinned. "It's happening to ME. I have control, and I can use my powers now. And my mission is to pick up the one called Blackbird."

"Magneto's requiting again?" Aaron asked. "What's he doing THIS time?"

"Magneto?" Raven looked from Kaylee to Aaron. "Magneto is after ME?"

"That's right, baby bird," Kaylee said, holding out a hand. "You can come quietly or you can fight me. Your choice."

Raven shook her head. "I vill not vork for Magneto." She thought about the stories Ben had told them, the horrible things Magneto had done.

"Fine," Kaylee said, floating back. She pulled her hand backward and Raven's seatbelt unbuckled. Pulling again, Raven went flying through the hole in the glass. "I guess I'll have to take you by force."

"Kaylee, don't!" Aaron shouted.

Raven regained her balance and floated upward. "I do not vish to harm you, little girl. Do not push me."

"Well, what if I wanna push?" Kaylee slammed her fists forward and Raven flew backward. "What if I don't want to stop? You gunna TELL on me?"

Aaron shook his head. "Oh no…" He floated out of the car himself, winds swirling around him in a graceful dance. "I don't want to do this, Kay," he said softly. "Please, back out now."

"Do you think I'm scared of you?" Kaylee's eyes narrowed as her hair flowed around her.

………………………..

Kish woke up and rolled over, listening to Dominique's phone ringing. "Dom," he said, nudging her. "Dom. Wake up." He sighed as she pulled a pillow over her head. "Dominique, your phone is ringing."

"I hear it," she said angrily, voice muffled by the pillow. "Why don't you answer it?"

"What am I, your secretary?" Kish grumbled.

"No, you're my boyfriend," Dominique pulled the pillow tight over her ears. "Answer the phone."

Kish sighed again and picked up the cell phone. "Hello, Dominique Drewlett's answering service, how may I help you?" Kish said, ignoring the punch.

"Kish?" Eevee's voice drifted to him, soft and sad. "Can I talk to my sister?"

"Hey, Dom, it's your kid sister, you want it?" Kish said, nudging her.

"Merde," Dom moaned, pulling the pillow off of her face. "Give it to me. Hey, Eevee, ever heard of Time Zones?"

"I'm sorry," Eevee murmured. "Where are you guys now?"

"We're on our way to Munich, but we're in a hotel now," she said, annoyed. "What did you want?"

"Mom's dead," she said rather abruptly. "And your dad. And MY dad."

Dominique sat, mouth open and speechless. Kish tugged on her shirt and whined.

"What's wrong?"

………………………………

Aaron blasted a small gust in Kaylee's direction, sending the small girl rocketing back to avoid it. "Please, Kaylee, just LISTEN to me," Aaron shouted. Raven tried to jump into the fight, but Aaron pushed her back. "Kaylee, knock it off!"

"I don't WANT to knock it off," she cried. "I want to knock YOU off!" She pushed forward with her telekinesis and Aaron was knocked back. She wasn't holding back at all. Aaron tried as hard as he could not to hurt her.

"Kaylee," he cried. "Please, stop this!"

"I WON'T!" she shouted back. Aaron felt himself being slammed into concrete, and he tasted blood. "I won't," she moaned. "I…. I…" she dropped to the ground, running to him. "Airy, Air head, I'm sorry," she cried, kneeling next to him. "Aaron!"

"I'm… okay," he tried to smile.

"Airy, 'm sorry, please be okay…"

"I'm fine," Aaron lied, feeling his head spinning. He was remembering Scott's lessons for some reason. Never hold back, even for people you care for. Never hold back. "Really, Kaylee, it's just a bump."

"You're bleeding," she sobbed.

Raven floated down and kneeled on Aaron's other side, helping him sit up. "Should I get help?" she asked quietly. "I could call Ben…"

"Go," Aaron said, wincing. "Go get Johnny, have him run to the institute."

Raven nodded and flew away.

Kaylee sobbed into his shirt. "Aaron, I'm SO sorry," she said.

"Hey, I forgive you," Aaron said quietly.

"Really?"

"What's… family… for?" Aaron groaned, spots in his eyes.

"Airy?" Kaylee shouted as everything went black. "AIRY?!"

…………………………..

Dominique listened to Kish knock on the bathroom door again. She leaned on the sink, staring at her reflection. "Dom, you okay?" He called.

"I'm fine," she whispered.

"I don't believe you," Kish said. "What did Eevee want?"

"Nothing, she was just calling to ask where we were," Dominique said loudly, trying to get him to go back to bed. "I'm okay, just go to sleep. I'll be there in a second."

Kish teleported behind her and wrapped his arms around her from behind, putting his nose in the hollow of her neck. "No secrets. What's wrong?"

She felt a tear fall down her cheek, smudging her mascara. "I… I shouldn't be upset. I hated them…"

"What?" Kish bushed her tear away.

"My parents," she sobbed. "Both of them are dead, just like that. Eevee's dad is dead too."

"You didn't hate them," Kish said. "And they didn't hate you."

"You didn't know my father," Dominique turned around and buried her face into his Weezer T-shirt. "He did hate me. He sure didn't love me!"

"Sometimes…" Kish looked down. "Sometimes parents don't know how to show that they care. Sometimes they're afraid…" he remembered his father, the endless hours of torture Kish endured, telling himself again and again that Eric Magnus Lensherr loved his son. "Sometimes you just have to trust that they are trying to help you."

Dominique sobbed. "I hope you're right," she said. "But I doubt it. You're stupid."

Kish smiled. "Hey, I know about some things."

………………………….

Eevee sat alone on her bed, looking out the window and wiping tears away. "Daddy," she whispered. "Oh, daddy. Why did you do it?"

There was a small knock on the door, the familiar knock of Ben. "Hey Eve," he called. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," she called back. "I'm okay, thanks."

Ben stood outside the door, deciding against pushing the subject. She just wanted to be alone. He sure knew what THAT felt like.

……………………

Aaron woke up in an infirmary bed, feeling a warm body curled beside him. He reached down and petted Kaylee's silver hair. She murmured with her thumb in her mouth, moving a little closer to him. Smiling, he leaned his head back and winced in pain. He felt the bandage on his head. When Henry walked in, he looked at him questioningly.

"You're alright," Hank said. "You have a thicker skull than most people."

"Ha ha," Aaron said.

"You have a slight fracture," he said. "But we were able to get to you before the injury was serious. You'll be back on your feet in a week or so, back in the Danger Room in a month."

"Great," Aaron said. "Is Kaylee…?"

"She's alright," he said. "She hasn't been awake long enough for the professor to talk to her, but he will."

"Somehow, I don't think she'll be staying here," Aaron whispered as Hank left. He waited for a few moments, then glanced back at her. He was right—she was gone. Smiling a little, he leaned back. She'll be okay, he told himself. We'll be okay.

NEXT: Chloe

_Another Chapter in the same day!!! I AM SO PROUD OF MYSELF!!!!! Please review._


	5. Chloe

_Okay new NeXt Gen, nice to know I'm appreciated!_

Episode 5: Chloe

The small, twelve year old girl named Chloe Hayes sat up in bed, breathing heavily and looking around her room with wide eyes. Her long brown hair was in her face and her big green eyes searched the darkness for any sign of her would-be attacker, hoping upon hope that it was just a dream. Just a dream…

As she drifted off to sleep, she heard a soft growl and blew it off, imagining it was only the dog…

_"No don't hurt me, PLEASE don't hurt me, pleasepleaseplease, mommy, daddy, help me!!" Chloe pulled against the restraints that held her to the metal operating table. The scary man with the goggles leaned in on her and shined a light in her eye. The growling from behind him frightened her and her eyes flickered toward the sound, making out a hairy man eating a raw steak. She let out a small sob as the scary goggle man forced her eyes back open when she tried to squeeze them shut._

_"Your mommy and daddy can't hear you, little girl," scary goggle man said softly, opening her mouth and shining the light into it. "So stop crying, everything will be fine, just relax." She shivered at his cold touch, whimpered at his stale breath, shuddered at the hairy man's growls._

_She sobbed silently as the goggle man pulled out a syringe. "This won't hurt at all," he said. "Stay still."_

_Chloe whimpered as she felt the pain of the needle shoot up her arm. The hairy man was standing now, looking down at her. "Sabretooth, get out of my work area immediately," the goggle man said angrily. "You'll get drool on my experiment." Chloe looked from the goggle man to the man called Sabretooth as he backed away with a growl. _

_The scary goggle man pressed a hand on her mouth and nose, cutting off her breathing. She squirmed and struggled against the restraints, feeling faint after a minute. He was suffocating her. He smiled at her as her eyes closed halfway. She let out a muffled scream. "Stop me," he said simply. She pulled at her restraints as hard as she could and heard the metal crack and strain. But it didn't break completely until she pulled with a muffled cry, and she was able to grab his wrist with her now free right hand. He pulled his hand away._

_"She's ready," he said softly. "Sabretooth. Send her on her mission."_

…………………

Raven looked up at Chloe from across the breakfast table. "Are you alright, little vun?" She asked as softly as possible. Chloe had been staring into her breakfast absently, remembering her dream, the scary goggle man and Sabretooth. "Chloe?"

She glanced up at the goth girl and smiled faintly. "Yeah, I'm okay," she said softly. "I just had a weird dream."

"Vhy don't you tell me about it?" She asked, taking a bite of toast.

"It had something to do with this funny man who wore goggles," she said. "He was scary."

Ben walked in and sat down, taking the cereal and pouring it into a bowl. "That's the last of the Corn Flakes," he said as Johnny walked in.

"Aw man, no more Corn Flakes?" Johnny whined. "Well, at least I have my secret stash of Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs."

"No," Ben said sternly.

"Whyyy," Johnny said loudly, grabbing the Cocoa Puffs instead.

"Do you remember last time?" Ben said, taking a bite of cereal. "That is NEVER happening again."

Chloe giggled. "I remember last time!" Then she stopped giggling and stood up, face serious. Ben looked at his young teammate, concerned.

"Chloe, what's the matter?" he asked, standing as well.

"Nothing," she said in a dead tone. "I'll be right back."

She left without a word, hovering a few feet off the ground. She looked around the living room and saw Twitch talking on the phone, looking like he was very deep in conversation with someone he was probably going to see in person once he got to school. Eevee flipped through the channels on the big TV, finally settling on the news. Jonah was twirling his gun on his hand aimlessly. Shaking her head, she left. The target wasn't there.

She made her way downstairs until she reached the Danger Room doors. She floated into the observatory and looked down. She saw Aaron Williams, training with Storm on a new wind technique. She shook her head and left again. Not here either.

She went back upstairs and out the front door. Still flying, she went about ten feet out from the door and looked around. Then she rocketed into the air and glanced around again. From thirty feet, she could see most of the grounds. She looked in the direction of the tiny cabin off to the side of the house. She narrowed her eyes at the door as it opened and Logan stepped out, putting on a hat and holding a shovel.

Target located.

……………………………

Kaylee sat at the table with her head in her hands, looking around at the plain metal walls of Magneto's current base. She sighed and stirred her cereal. Ever since she had seen her brother, he was all she could think about. She had stayed with him just long enough to make sure he was okay. But was he really?

Lance, drying his hands and walking in, smiled at her. "Morning, chickadee."

"Hi," Kaylee said sadly.

"Hey. What's wrong?" Lance sat across from her and put down the rag he was holding. "You okay?"

"I'm okay," she said softly.

"Come on, you can tell me," he said. Lance paused and waited, but she only stirred her cereal. "Kaylee?"

"I'm okay," she repeated with more force. "Can you leave me alone?"

"You don't look okay to me."

Kaylee sniffed and put down her spoon. "I miss my brother," she said softly. "I'm worried about him."

"Who, Williams?" Lance waved her concern away. "He's fine. He can take care of himself. Believe me, I know."

"Really?" Kaylee asked. "How?"

He pulled his sweater sleeve up a little and pointed out a long, white scar running down his arm. "Do you see that?"

"Yeah," Kaylee nodded. "It looks like it hurt."

"It did," Lance smiled, rolling the sleeve back down. "Your brother gave that thing to me when he was nineteen years old. Trust me, he's fine."

She smiled and got up, her silver ponytail flopping over her shoulder. "Thanks," she said as she left.

"Anytime," Lance waved.

………………………..

Logan stuck the shovel deep into the dirt with one powerful push, lifting the weed out, roots and all. He threw it over his shoulder and wiped his forehead. The sun beating down on his neck, Logan was already getting agitated. Of course Kurt called in sick today; of course the Elf needed him to weed his garden.

He stopped and stood straight, sniffing the air. Someone was trying to sneak up on him. He glanced behind him and side to side, sniffing the air. When he finally looked up, he was too late.

"Aaaaaaah!" He heard Chloe scream as she catapulted into him. Logan restrained himself from popping his claws as he threw her off. "Hayes!" he shouted. "What the Hell do you think you're…?"

She leaped at him again, screaming.

Logan used defensive maneuvers, trying to avoid hurting her. "Hayes, what's the matter with you!" He shouted, jumping away as she slammed a fist in his direction. "Come on kid, stop messing around!" Chloe screamed and slammed a punch into his side and Wolverine felt several ribs crack and break. "Argh," he shouted. "Alright, kid, you give me no choice!"

The fight continued as Wolverine unsheathed his claws and swiped at the little girl, who flew out of reach. She swung another punch that landed in his other side, breaking more bones, and causing Logan to double over in pain. The kid was good. He reached out to Ben. 'Could use a little help, squirt,' he said in his mind, dodging another blow.

When Ben finally made it outside, Chloe had Logan on the ground with a single foot on his chest. Ben shouted and pushed his hands outward, sending Chloe rocketing backward by the magnetic shield he had produced.

"Get in her mind," Logan shouted. Ben's eyebrows furrowed in fear of using his telepathy. "Just do it, kid!"

Ben felt his mental power surge as he pushed into Chloe's mind, feeling her protest and push back. Ben was too powerful for her, though, and he made it easily into her sub conscious. He found a mental connection to someone that made him shiver and he instantly severed it. Chloe fell to her knees and her hair fell into her face. "Chloe," he shouted, running to her. "Hey, are you okay?"

She nodded as Logan sat up, bones healing. "Yeah, SHE'S okay," he grumbled.

"What happened?" she asked. "Why am I all the way out here?"

"It's okay now," Ben said softly. "You're going to be fine. Come on, let's get you inside."

…………………………

Xavier sat in his office, looking at Ben pacing across the floor. "Are you absolutely certain it was him?"

"I'm sure," Ben nodded. "I know what he feels like. If he's still working for Magneto, then this can be easily solved."

"Yet Magneto would have nothing to gain by attacking Wolverine," Storm said from her seat. "So who?"

"Who is Mastermind working for?" Ben said.

"And more importantly," Xavier said. "Why?"

"And why use Chloe," Ben muttered. "She's just a little kid. But she did kind of show up out of nowhere."

Xavier coughed. "Did you find anything else while you were in her mind?"

"Yeah," Ben nodded. "A repressed memory, of being experimented on by some weird guy wearing goggles. And Sabretooth was there."

"Hmm," Storm looked at Xavier.

"Yes," the old man nodded. "I think I need to talk to Logan."

………………………….

The next morning, Chloe woke up in an infirmary bed and felt someone holding her hand. She opened her eyes and looked at him, smiling up at Logan. "Hi," she whispered.

"Hey, half-pint," he said, finally reusing his old pet name for Kitty. "How're you feelin'?"

"Okay I guess," she said. "I'm really sorry."

"It ain't your fault, kid," he said, squeezing her hand. "We'll get that ghoul together, don't you worry. I won't let him get away again."

"You know him?" She asked. "The goggle man?"

"Yeah, I know him," he growled, popping his claws. "He did THIS."

She shivered.

"But you don't have to be afraid anymore," he said, sheathing his claws again and squeezing her hand. "I'm here for you."

"Thanks a bunch," Chloe smiled sweetly at him.

NEXT: The Guardians!

_Well, there's Chloe's story for you, please review!_


	6. The Guardians part 1

_Wow I am on a roll!! I might even update tomorrow too! Anyway, everyone remember to review, the Guardians are really close to my heart and I want to know what you guys think of them. Luv Nighty!_

Episode Six: The Guardians Part One

"Move back," Shouted Ben, his scratchy voice cutting through the air as Twitch leapt out of harms way. "Chloe, cover Jonah!"

The little girl flew over Jonah and lifted him into the air as one of Gambetto's bombs blew where he had just been standing. "Thanks, little lady," Jonah said as he was set down.

"You're welcome!" she giggled, flying off to engage Four-Arms.

The battle seemed to be going nowhere to Ben, and he could see that they were clearly outnumbered by their adversaries. At first it had only been Flash and Four-Arms, but then Gambetto, Sigil, Ironhawk and Red Ghost appeared after Flash had called for back-up. Ben knew there was no way to win the fight, but Ben didn't give up. This was a chance to lure Magneto to the scene.

Johnny sped to Ben's side. "They're killing us, man," he shouted, flinching at another explosion. "We have to fall back!"

"We're fine, we can still win this," Ben said calmly, slamming a piece of a car door into Ironhawk.

"Damn it, Maestro--!" Johnny screamed at him "Call us off NOW!"

"Who exactly do you think you are, Speedy?" Ben shouted back. "I will NOT give up until I have that information!"

"Will you quit when someone dies out there?" Johnny said, speeding off to help Raven with Red Ghost. Ben watched him go, then came a blast from underneath that didn't come from Gambetto. He was knocked off his feet and he put his hands to the ground, feeling it shake and crack beneath him.

"What the--?" Ben heard Jonah shout as the winds picked up, ripping his hat from his head and tousling Johnny's hair as he looked up and pointed.

A boy, around sixteen, was lowering himself into the battle, winds carrying him down into the fray as gracefully as a bird from the sky. Ben looked behind him and up as another sixteen year old boy with dark skin stepped around him, holding out his glowing hands as the ground shook with each step. Johnny felt himself being pushed out of the way of a falling piece of debris by a brown blur, and as this blur came to a halt, he could see it was a fourteen year old boy, grinning and giving Johnny a thumbs up. The wind was soon accompanied by rain, pouring from the sky as a girl with long blue hair floated down beside the speedster. Three cars exploded one by one, sending Four-Arms and Gambetto flying backward, as a seventeen year old boy jumped down off of the fire escape, hands glowing with ember and fire.

"We'll take it from here," The dark skinned earth controller shouted to Ben, who nodded in awe of the raw power radiating from these kids. He could feel the pure force of them as they fought off the new Acolytes, sending them scurrying back to the metal orbs that bore them to the scene. Ben watched the orbs fly away, slamming his fist into the ground in frustration and anger, as the wind boy walked over and held out a hand to help him up.

"We're the Guardians," he said with a wide grin. "Nice to meet you, little guy!"

"I'm Firefly, the leader," the boy who had caused the cars to explode lead the other guardians over to the center of the street, where Ben's team was regrouping. "You can call me Alan. You're the X-Men."

"Not exactly," Eevee said.

"We're NeXt Gen," Raven landed softly next to Chloe, taking the smaller girl's hand. "The fourth team of the Xavier Institute."

"So, where did YOU guys come from?" Johnny asked warily. "I don't think I've ever heard of the guardians before."

"We're new," the speedster said, putting his hands on his hips as Alan ruffled his brown hair.

"This is Tobias," Alan said. "Fleet."

Tobias saluted.

"The boy who can control winds is Cyclonus, or Lewis."

Lew smiled his weird crazy smile and waved merrily.

"The earth controller is Cairo, codename Rockslide."

"Yo," Cairo said, sticking his hands in his pockets.

"And the girl is Jessie, or Jet."

She pushed her soaking hair from her face as the rain slowed to a stop. Smiling, she looked around the awed NeXt Gen. "We have two other members, but one's sick and too young to stay home alone, so Hector stayed with him. Al, should we call the Professor?"

"You have a professor too?" Chloe asked, tugging on Lew's shirt-sleeve. He laughed and nodded.

"We're based in Oklahoma, and we were coming to Bayville to talk to the X-Men," Alan said. "We saw you having trouble and decided to help out."

"You're well coordinated," Ben said, looking over Firefly's well-rounded team. "Who is your sponsor?"

"My father," Cairo spoke up. "Professor Gerald Ford."

Johnny snorted loudly, punching a confused Jonah on the shoulder as he laughed. "What, like the president?" he said between guffaws.

"It's not funny to make fun of other people's names," Chloe said, folding her arms.

"Sure it is, we do it all the time," Lew said. "His face just makes us crack up. I can't believe a black man is named Gerald Ford."

"Shut the Hell up, Lew," Alan said sternly. "Cairo, call the professor, check to make sure that Leo's alright and tell him we've made contact with Xavier's students."

"Right," Cairo said.

"Ya'll folks want some lunch?" Jonah asked, pointing at the jet. "Ahm sure we could get home by noon in that handy doohickey there."

"Sure, I'm starving," Tobias said excitedly.

"Oh, Toby, you're ALWAYS hungry," Jessie said, rolling her eyes.

…………………………………

"He's gunna eat all of the food," Johnny whispered, whining to Ben outside the kitchen as Eevee talked to the Guardians. "Did you see how much of the chicken he took? And he eats with super speed!"

"I know, I know Johnny, but we have to put up with that," Ben said softly, trying to keep his voice from carrying. "These people are a potential ally or rival group, and I would prefer the former to the latter."

"But what about me, how am I supposed to tell him I need to eat too?" Johnny whined more, shaking his head.

"Eat out of the Summer's refrigerator like your supposed to," Ben said scornfully. "Now, you're not going to embarrass me in there, are you?"

"No sir," groaned Johnny, saluting sarcastically.

"See, that's what I'm talking about," Ben scolded. "If I see any of that, I'm sending you away and giving you extra training sessions."

"Alright, alright, I'm cool," Johnny said, holding his hands up in surrender.

Ben glared at him one last time before opening the kitchen door. "Hey," he said, dragging Johnny behind him. "Did Eevee give you the tour?"

"She did," Jessie said.

"This place ROCKS," Lew shouted suddenly. "Our mansion isn't nearly this big!"

"Yes, it's very nice," Alan said, with a glare toward Lewis. "Very nice indeed. You all live here?"

"Yes, along with some older students," Ben nodded and sat down across from Alan. "I noticed a theme in your powers. Are they mostly element-based?"

"Most of us," he said. "You see, all seven of us have a ring that defines us and our element. I am fire, Lew is air, Cairo is earth, Toby is stone, Jessie is water. Our two others are gravity and darkness."

"Really," Ben raised his eyebrows at Eevee. "A nicely balanced team."

"Oh, Leo usually screws everything up," Tobias said, mouth full. "He's nine. He's a freaking klepto, man."

"Toby," Jessie said angrily. "It's an illness!"

"No it's not, he probably just made it up," he said. "He picks locks, too, so no one is safe, not a one of us!!"

Jessie snatched the chicken leg from his hand and practically growled at him, snarling. "Oooo, I hate you!!"

"Nah, you don't hate me," He grabbed another chicken leg.

Ben, Eevee, and Johnny, who had been watching this take place, exchanged confused glances.

At that moment, the Professor rolled in, looking pale and weak. Ben shuddered and looked away, trying to keep himself from yelling at the old man. He needed to rest, to retire, and he still refused.

"Welcome to my school, Guardians," he said softly, sounding tired. "I hope you will enjoy your stay."

"How long WILL you be staying?" Johnny said, raising an eyebrow at the pile of chicken bones in front of Tobias.

"Only a day or so, take the time to get to know the dynamics of your team and such," Alan said. "We'll pay for our food, and any resources we might use…"

"That won't be necessary, Firefly," the Professor said. "I understand that you are curious about my groups. I will let you train with each team to see what you think. The danger room is our training area and you are free to use it."

As the Professor rolled out, Ben followed and closed the kitchen door behind him as he put a hand on his shoulder. "Are you sure we can trust them?"

"My dear boy, if they had anything to hide, I would know," he said. "They are perfectly harmless."

"I just hope you're sure," he said, stepping in front of Xavier. "Hey. Are you feeling okay?"

"I am alright, Ben." He patted Ben's hand. "Don't worry so much, it's unhealthy for a boy your age."

Ben watched him turn the corner in silence._ I can't stop worrying_, he thought. _I need you._

………………………….

Johnny dodged a fireball. "Shit, who trained you guys?" He shouted over the roaring winds. "Darn, that's ANOTHER dollar for the swear jar… I don't even HAVE a dollar right now…"

Lew laughed as he knocked Chloe back for the fourth time, sending her flying towards the wall before she caught herself. "Stop it," she cried angrily. He kept laughing maniacally, and Chloe charged while he was distracted. She slammed into his stomach full speed, knocking him into the opposite wall.

"Yeah!" Johnny shouted as Chloe flew down for a high five.

Ben glanced up moments before the alarms sounded, growing pale. "Proximity alarms," he shouted. "Everyone shut down all functions and report to the front lawn in full uniform! Quickly!"

He stopped Alan on his way out, grabbing his shoulder. "You and your team can be safe in here," Ben said. "You don't have to help if you don't want to."

"Are you kidding?" Alan laughed. "We've been waiting for some exercise all week!"

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

_Well, there they are, my Guardians!! Please review!_


	7. The Guardians part 2

_Wh-hoo, part two! Next episode, the Guardians are going home, so this one really has nothing to do with them… but hey, Part Three of the Guardians will be chock full of them! _

Episode Seven: The Guardians Part Two

The proximity alarms screamed to life moments after Ben glanced upward in fear. The Danger Room shut down, the holograms disappearing and the weapons quickly retracting into the carefully shined metal walls. Alan glanced around in confusion, looking at his teammates on the guardians and then at the leader of NeXt Gen. "What is that?!" he shouted over the deafening noise.

"Someone's here," Ben cried back. "Someone who's not supposed to be here!"

"Like who?" Lew called, landing gracefully on his feet and making his way to Ben and Alan. "Those guys we fought earlier?"

"No, they don't want us," Johnny looked at Jonah, then at Ben. "They just rob banks, right?"

"It's gotta be him," Ben muttered under his breath, bolting for the door. "It HAS to be…"

"Ben, no!" Chloe cried, helplessly reaching out a hand to stop him and then pulling it back, knowing he wasn't going to listen to reason. "Don't…"

"Who's he talking about?" Tobias asked Eevee.

"Magneto," Eevee said softly. "He's here."

Ben made his way to the elevator, running past the stairs without his usual second glance. _Magneto,_ he thought. _Magneto. You're here. And you're mine._ The thought traveled through his mind over and over, silencing the voice that told him to stop, to wait, to think. He couldn't think. He couldn't wait. His time was now. He had been waiting four long years, and here he was. His time was now.

………………………………

Kaylee landed silently on the institute grounds, glittering silver hair floating gently around her waist as she looked around. "All clear," she said softly, knowing Richiu could hear her with his extra-sensitive ears. He landed with a dull thud beside her, watching her wave away the cloud of sulfur his teleporting had produced. "Oh, Richiu," she giggled.

He looked up at her from his crouched position, pale skin almost white in the light of the full moon. His bright blue eyes glinted and his dark hair was blown about by the wind. He stood and signed out a few words.

"I don't know yet," she said, tugging on the blue scarf around his neck. "I guess we'll find out when they come out and attack us."

He signed out a few more words with an angry look to Kaylee. She giggled and tugged on his scarf again. "I can look, but I might be found out. Telepathy is easily tracked, especially in THIS house."

He looked extremely displeased that he couldn't yell at her.

Magneto soon strode forward, having made a huge gap in the bars of the gate. He shoved Richiu out of the way as he looked up at the house. Pietro sped past to stand next to his father, ruffling his younger brother's hair as he glanced up at the tall man. "Do we attack now?" the speedster asked impatiently.

"Not yet," Magneto said. "We wait for them to come to us."

"Avalanche and Toad are waiting out beyond the gate, should I call them over here?" Kaylee asked softly, walking over to look at her teacher's face. He looked so solid, so noble that it was hard to believe that these X-Men did not see as he saw.

"Wait, my child," Magneto said, putting a hand on her shoulder. She felt his confidence flow into her. "We wait. Signal them to be ready."

Magneto looked to the front door and strained his eyes as it began to rain, trying to make out the figure in the doorway. It was too dark as the clouds moved over the moon for him to see. He struggled to see the features of the mutant, and was almost startled as lightning flashed and thunder roared, illuminating the enraged face of Benjamin Malcolm Wyndgarde. "Magneto," Ben shouted over the rain and thunder.

"Maestro," Magneto called back. "It's been quite a while. You've… grown."

"I have," Ben's fists clenched, nails sinking into his skin and drawing blood. "And I'm ready."

"Silvera," he motioned to Kaylee as she floated upward. "Deal with that child. Keep him occupied. Shadow," he said, looking to Richiu. "Go to the others and tell them it's time to commence plan A."

Richiu nodded and obediently teleported.

"No," Ben whispered as the small girl approached, blue eyes glowing brightly. "I don't want to fight you," he said angrily.

"Too bad," Kaylee shouted, slamming forward a telekinetic blast that knocked him off of his feet. "You'll have to play with me for now."

"You want to play?" Ben growled, standing up. This girl was starting to piss him off. "Then let's PLAY!"

She squealed as his eyes glowed silver and she felt a magnetic thrum of force flow against her, sending her rocketing up. She was used to this, Magneto had trained her for this. She grinned and pushed back, waiting for her secret weapon to be needed.

Richiu teleported back and was immediately pounced on by someone who teleported there right before him. Twitch launched at him with full force and knocked him to the ground. Lew landed and looked at the ruined gate. "Holy…" the wind-controller muttered, just as two strong hands grabbed his shoulders and lifted him back into the air. He glanced up and saw a flurry of black feathers as he pushed away, the pale face of Blankangel staring back at him. "Craaaap!" Lew cried as the man with the black wings slammed his fist into the teenager's gut, sending his winds out of control and his body sprawling to the ground.

Twitch caught hold of the other boy's scarf as they wrestled, and it slipped off of his neck. The huge ugly scar across his throat made Twicth hiss and flinch. "Dude," he murmured, but jumped back as Richiu threw himself at him.

Eevee glanced around as she watched three of the Guardians get taken out by Avalanche. She decided it was her turn, fire blazing in her palms as she stepped toward the earth mover. Avalanche watched her approach and grinned, ready to knock her down too. She threw a fireball as he slammed his boot into the dirt, sending a roaring earthquake in her direction and she screamed as she fell. The fireball missed by only inches.

Ben fought the silver-haired girl, and was startled when she disappeared in a flash of red. "Johnny," he shouted.

"Hey babe," Johnny said as he stopped running, dropping her onto the ground as he floated upward. "Wanna play with me instead?"

"No," Kaylee shouted at him, standing up and floating to his level. "Leave me alone, okay?"

"Hey," Johnny looked offended. "That's not nice."

"Neither is THIS, pea brain!" she cried, sending a telekinetic blast that he met with equal power. She gasped in astonishment. "Huh?"

"What?" Johnny laughed. "Scared you weren't gunna have any fun?"

Kaylee growled and screamed, launching herself at him. He flew to the side, sending her barreling into Ben and knocking them both to the ground. She knew it was time to use her weapon, now that he was off guard. Her telepathy activated, one focused beam digging a hole into Ben's mental barriers. He screamed and clutched at his head, waves of thoughts flowing into him. Kaylee screamed too, pain shooting through her. Johnny fell out of the air, shouting in agony. Ben was hurting everyone, he couldn't stop it.

Kaylee managed to crawl to him and hold his hand. "Here," she shouted to him. "I didn't know, let me help you…" She began to go back in, hoping to patch up the damage she had done. She tried her hardest, writhing in agony, as the tiny hole was plugged.

…………………………..

Ben woke in the infirmary, looking around in horror for Magneto. He had escaped, he knew that already, and his team had been creamed, as had Alan's team. Eevee and Jonah sat next to him. "Hey," Eevee whispered.

"Hey," Ben said.

"You look terrible," Jonah said softly.

"Thanks," Ben smiled a little and winced at the pain in his head. "Did he get away?" He asked, though he knew the answer.

"Yeah," Eevee sighed. "We're sorry, Ben. We really tried."

"That's okay, you weren't ready," Ben growled, folding his arms. "We'll be ready for him next time."

"What do you think he wanted?" Jonah asked.

"I don't know," Ben said. "But I guess we'll soon find out."

………………………………

"Did you get the disk?" Magneto asked Toad. The slimy mutant held out the CD, smiling. "Thank you. You will be rewarded."

"Sure boss," he said as Magneto put the disk into the main computer of his base. Two files appeared, sisters, that were greatly needed for the prophecy to be fulfilled.

And it would be fulfilled.

_Okay all done! What do you guys think?_


	8. The Guardians part 3

Episode 8: The Guardians part Three

Eevee made her way downstairs to see Ben looking up them, hand on the banister and staring at the top step as though a ghost stood upon it. He was deathly pale, eyes wide and shining that pretty silver behind his glasses, his hair messy and uncombed, as per usual. Eevee stopped beside him and looked up the steps with him, then looked at his profile as he continuously watched the top step. She touched his arm; he jumped, startled, and suddenly acknowledged her presence.

"Ben?" She said softly. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Uh, yeah," he said, pushing his glasses up and turning away from the staircase. "I'm fine, Eevee; don't worry about it."

"You haven't spoken to me since you got out of the infirmary, and you've been avoiding the Guardians like the plague," she whispered. "Something's bothering you. Is it about losing against Magneto?"

"No. Yes. I don't know." He sighed and ran his hands through his hair. "I just… I don't know."

"It's okay," Eevee said. "Just talk to me."

"I… I have work to do," he mumbled, stalking off. Eevee watched him go with sad eyes, wishing there was something she could do to help the short, soft-voiced kid who struggled every day with the minds of millions.

…………………………………..

Tobias sped back into the living room where Johnny and Jonah sat, watching a western film and eating popcorn out of Jonah's hat.

"You see there, nobody would eva shoot like tha'," Jonah said, nudging the other boy and pointing at the screen. "Ah wouldn't shoot like tha', no sir, you gotta pull up yer arm, not push into the shot, yer liable to break yer arm doin' it like tha'."

"Am I interrupting…?" Tobias said quietly, watching as Johnny lost interest in Jonah and turned to the movie again.

"Are ye listenin'?" Jonah said, nudging Johnny again.

"Jonah, ah can't understaind wht yer sayin' half th' tahme," Johnny said dully, in an amazing imitation of Jonah's accent.

Jonah stood, stung by the mockery, and took his hat from the sofa, pouring the popcorn into Johnny's lap.

"Hey, what--?" Johnny shouted angrily.

Jonah coolly put the hat on his head, straightened his bandanna and left the room without a word, a mask of indignant anger hiding the hurt he felt rising in his chest like a hot wave.

Tobias went after him, stopping him with a hand on the tall boy's arm. "Hey, I was going to ask you…"

"Leave me alone, ah do not feel like conversatin'," he said shortly.

"Well, I tried to ask your team leader but I can't find him."

"Ask Eevee, then."

"But…" he looked for another excuse, and came up with nothing. "Um, I wanted to ask, are you REALLY from the old west?"

Jonah turned his steely blue eyes to the smaller teen, taking off his hat. "Yes, ah AM from the OLD WEST," he said, enraged. "And yer gunna SEE wht happens to someone who keeps borherin' a man from the old west when that man's got himself a twitchy right hand and a gun in his holster." With that, he turned and made his way up the stairs, fuming.

Tobias watched him go, shivering. He was starting to realize there was a time and place to ask questions in this house.

………………………..

Raven floated down the hall and saw Lewis coming up the stairs. She narrowed her eyes, sure she had never met anyone more annoying than the wind controller of the Guardians. She wanted to disappear, but was too late as the dark haired boy's green eyes spotted her. "Hey," he called, hurrying up the remainder of the steps to talk to her.

"Scheiße," she cursed dully under her breath.

"Wiz, I mean, erm, Alan said that he wanted to call a meeting with your group," he said breathlessly as he reached her. "In like half an hour, you're all supposed to be in the kitchen, 'kay?"

"I go vhere I choose," she said darkly.

"Yeah, but, uh, this is important," he said nervously as she looked down at him from her position in mid-air. "Could you, uh, come down, please?"

She sighed, even more annoyed by this persistent boy. _Men,_ she thought irritably. _They think they know everything. _

She put her feet on the soft carpet, her hair settling around her pale face like a curtain of black. "Important," she growled. "I'll bet."

Lew was stunned by her sheer angry beauty, speechless for a few moments until she raised an eyebrow questioningly. "Um, it is, uh, important," he said, biting a nail. "You should come. To the, uh, meeting."

She looked around. "Fine," she said finally. "But only because it is a meeting of our teams. I vill not be staying long."

"Good." He nodded. "Okay, um, see ya." He quickly made his way past her, hurrying down the hallway as if death was on his heels. She actually smiled as he stumbled a little turning the corner. He was kind of cute, in that annoying sort of way. Maybe she could learn to tolerate him.

……………………………

Ben folded his arms, wishing he was back in his calm, quiet, safe room instead of in this kitchen with his team and the Guardians. Each team sat on opposite ends of the room, facing each other like rival wolf packs. Alan finally broke the uncomfortable silence, clearing his throat.

"Hem," he said. "I wanted to tell you all that we have enjoyed our short stay here and have been quite comfortable. However, it's time for us to go back to our home."

"Finally!" Johnny said before he could stop himself. Eevee shot a withering glare at him, making the red-haired boy slide further down his seat.

"As I was saying," Alan said, looking at Johnny with an angry glint in his eye. "I was hoping some of you might want to come stay with us for a few days, see how we live and train, and meet our other two teammates."

"I wanna go," Johnny shouted suddenly, getting a few more glares.

"No," Ben said sternly. "Eevee, Raven and Twitch should go. Jonah, Johnny, and Chloe, you three need to stay here and train with me."

"Awwww," Chloe whined. Jonah seemed to share her protest, not looking forward to spending more time with Johnny, but seemed happy at least that Johnny wasn't getting what he wanted for once.

"Great, I'll get ready to go," Twitch said, teleporting away. The other people in the room coughed and sputtered, waving their hands and shouting in irritation.

Lew looked both happy that Raven was going, at the same time extremely nervous, sticking his nails instinctively between his teeth.

Ben never saw how hurt and upset Eevee was. She knew he was just trying to get rid of her, get her out of his way so he could brood in peace.

……………………………..

"When are we going to get there?" Twitch said for the seventh time.

"Soon," Jessie said, her patience with the blue mutant wearing quite thin. "Now stop asking."

"Where are we going, anyway?" Eevee asked, glancing at Cairo.

Cairo turned his head to look at her. "Our place is in Oklahoma," he said. "Small town called Johnstonville. My family's been living there for over one hundred years."

"Really?" Twitch turned in his seat, looking at Cairo over the back of his chair. "The Ford family, right? Are you guys rich?"

"Relatively speaking, yes," the dark skinned boy looked uncomfortable. "Which is why, when my father's powers emerged, he devoted his life and his money to the mutant cause."

"Like the Professor," Eevee said.

"Like your Professor," Alan nodded. "He gathered as many mutants as he could find through his own copy of the Cerebro system. The Professor was a great help in Prof Ford's early years, sending him blueprints of Cerebro and the Danger Room to copy and use. But the first group of Guardians was a failure. We're his second batch."

"Why hadn't we heard of you guys before?" Twitch asked.

"Our adversaries have been, up to now, local," Lew said.

"Then we found out about what Magneto's been up to," Tobias said, looking up and suddenly interested in the conversation.

"Magneto?" Raven glanced up from her book.

"Yeah," Toby nodded. "We started seeing a pattern in his appearances, links between the places he was being spotted at."

"So we connected the dots and found this," Jessie opened her notebook and held it out to Eevee. "An ancient prophecy involving three female mutants, or here labeled as 'Goddesses'; the prophecy dates back to the dark ages."

"What's this mean?" Eevee looked up from the notebook.

"He's trying to find the three mutant females," Alan said. "The prophecy tells of a being that will wipe out the human race and leave it to the godly beings."

"Us," Twitch whispered. "Mutants."

"And those female mutants…?" Raven asked.

"Together, they have the power to release the being," Jessie pointed out the triangulation on the notebook page. "Light, mind, and darkness, see?"

"Right," Eevee nodded.

"So now we want to know what he wants with the prophecy and why he's looking for those mutants," Lew said.

The jet swerved to the left, and everyone glared at Alan. "Bird," he explained.

………………………………

Twitch woke up as Raven nudged him. "Ve have landed, sleepy head," she said, passing him.

Twitch sat up and watched everyone get up. Oklahoma was already boring. He unbuckled his safety belt and stretched, yawning.

Eevee stood and patted her friend's shoulder. "You missed the excellent crash landing and remarkable save, courtesy of Lewis Morris."

"Thank you VERY much," Lew bowed.

"Crash landing?" Twitch said nervously.

"I can't believe you slept through it," Tobias laughed. "We had bets going. Pay up, loser."

Alan grumbled and tossed him fifty cents.

As Eevee stepped out of the small jet, which wasn't as high-tech nor as expensive as their Blackbird, she looked around the smallish hanger. These people didn't seem to have as much money or equipment as the X-Men did. She followed the Guardians up the stairs, looking constantly from Twitch and Raven to judge how she should react.

The Foyer was small and homey, though the mansion was large it wasn't nearly as large as Xavier's home. It seemed like Ford's school was the economy version of Xavier's, less of everything from furniture to space to the television size. She supposed she and her fellow teammates, along with her predecessors, had been extremely spoiled by the amount money Xavier had in his wallet.

"It's not much," Lew said. "But it's home."

The pile of blankets on the couch moved suddenly, startling Twitch as a brown-haired, wide-eyed nine-year-old popped out of them. He looked around at the Guardians, then at the three strangers. "Hi," he said. "Are you X-men?"

"No," Raven said. "Ve're on NeXt Gen."

"Leo," Alan said. "Are you feeling better?"

Leo nodded, looking at everyone standing in the living room. The little boy broke into a wide smile, closing his eyes and waving. Eevee giggled about how insufferably adorable the boy was.

Another boy, black hair ruffled in an unruly fashion with a few white streaks on the sides, tall and lanky and around 15, walked in and saw everyone as he took a bite of cold leftover pizza. "Um," he said, mouth full. "You're back! Thank God, I've been living on pizza, peanut butter and trail mix since you guys left."

"Hi, Hector," Jessie laughed. "Guys, this is Eevee, Raven, and Twitch. They live at the Xavier's school for Gifted Youngsters."

"Hi," Leo said again.

"Hey," Hector waved and took another bite of the cold pizza.

"Where's my father?" Cairo asked.

"He's on an important business trip," Hector said, sitting on the couch with Leo. "Said he'd be back in a few days."

Eevee jumped as her beeper went off. She grabbed it as Raven's and Twitch's sounded. "It's Ben," Eevee said softly. "What does he want…?"

Twitch dialed home on his cell phone, listening to it ring until someone picked it up. Twitch waited for someone to speak. "Hello, who picked up?" he asked.

"Don't come back," came the weak voice of Johnny. "Don't come back whatever you do…"

"Johnny?" Twitch said, concerned. "Johnny!" he shouted after the line went dead. "Something's wrong," he said to Eevee and Raven.

"I sense something at the Institute," Raven said softly.

"Looks like we have to go home early," Eevee shrugged.

"I'll take you, I don't mind," Lew said. "I can go."

"Can you fly fast?" Twitch said, more and more worried for Johnny as the seconds passed.

Lew grinned. "My favorite."

NEXT: Smithereens

Please review, I'm proud of my staying power to make this one of my longer chapters!


	9. Smithereens

Hey everyone, at last the next chapter of NEXT GEN! Enjoy!

Episode Nine: Smithereens

Nicolas Madison had never flown across an ocean. He had never waited at an airport for someone to pick him up. Indeed, he was at this present time quite sick to his stomach as he stepped out of the van and looked up at the huge home, the school of which he would now be a resident. 

Nicolas, or Nico as he preferred to be called, was a boy of tremendous size. At his age of sixteen, he was already six foot four, a bumbling giant as it were, unused to his newfound strength. He seemed to break everything he laid his hands on, not knowing how much pressure to apply in a given situation. Now he was here, at an American school for people like him, for mutants. He stepped forward, watching the van drive away, and knocked lightly on the door. The resounding noisy crash his fist against the tall oak doors created was heard even upstairs. 

Johnny looked up from his homework, sprawled across his bed and hearing the loud knocking on the door. "New student's here," he shouted into his parent's room before speeding down the stairs and opening the door. Johnny was dwarfed by this blond teenager, standing almost a foot taller. "Uh," he said softly. "Hi. I'm Johnny." He didn't hold out a hand in greeting out of fear that he may be crushed, and Nico understood.  
"Hello," he said, looking past Johnny and into the house. "I arrived an hour ago and someone drove me here. May I come in?"

Johnny blinked at his well-spoken polite nature, expecting a brute of some kind, a big stupid boy or something, just not this. "S-sure," he said, surprised again at the other boy's pleased expression. Was this polite thing a little game he played or something? "Um, I'll get the professor… or something. No wait, he's not here. I'll… get my dad." He sped off, a little disturbed by the only one who had managed to confound him in years. 

Nico waited, not wanting to sit on the delicate chairs about the living room, afraid they might snap beneath him. The room was magnificent, it had him looking in five directions at once, wanting to take everything in. Before he had a chance to actually touch something, a man wearing red glasses walked in, followed closely by the red haired boy from before. 

"Hello, Nicolas," he said, holding out a hand and shaking Nico's, surprised by his powerful grip. "I see you've met my son Johnny. He's also a student here."

Johnny waved nervously. Nico smiled and waved back. "It's pretty empty," the red headed boy said. "The school right now, see a lot of people are out on assignment. Almost all the X-men, except my dad, and most of my team too."

"Out on assignment?" Nico asked curiously. 

"Yeah, that's what we do," Scott said. "Go out and save the world. Johnny, could you show him to his room?"

Johnny nodded grudgingly, waving for Nico to follow. 

"So you live here," Nico said, trying to start a conversation.

"Yup," Johnny said, then stopped by the phone, tilting his head as a weird feeling passed over him. Why did he want to pick it up…?

A loud crashing noise, followed by the whole house moving under Johnny's feet, caused him to tumble backwards and onto the floor. Nico stood his ground, feet planted solidly as the floor shook. "An earthquake?" he said loudly over the noise.

"No earthquakes around here," Johnny said, and he was nearly crushed by a falling chunk of the ceiling, Nico reaching down and swiftly picking him up and out of the way. "Woah," he said. "Dude. Thanks, man."

"No problem," Nico smiled again, and then looked around as another crash shook the house. "If it's not an earthquake, then bloody what is it?"

Johnny was happy to know Eevee. He at least knew how to hear through a British accent. "I don't know, don't look at me," he said loudly, covering his head as debris littered his hair. Nico put him down. "Ben," he shouted, looking up the stairs. "Yo, BEN! School's being attacked, here! Wakey wakey!"

"Who else is here?" Nico said. "Who's Ben?"

"Ben is my boss man," he said. "Chloe's here, and Jonah."

"Sounds promising," Nico said. 

"It's really not."

Nico frowned. "Aren't you being pessimistic."

"Just go upstairs, and find Ben," Johnny ordered. "He's the nerd with the glasses, go!"

Nico obeyed, climbing up the stairs and running down the second floor corridor, adding to the shaking and the noise that already rocked the house.

Johnny stayed put, waiting and deciding whether he should call someone. His dad would know what to do. He started to run, but something large and heavy slammed him in the back of the head, sending him crashing to the ground. He was vaguely aware over the dull ringing in his ears that the phone was also ringing. 

Nico finally bumped into 'the nerd with the glasses' and stopped him. "The school is being attacked," he said. 

"Is it really, I didn't notice," Ben snapped, hitting the communicator again. "Where's Johnny?"

"I left him downstairs," said Nico. "By the way, my name is…"

"Later," Ben said, sprinting back the way he came. "Jonah! Get your guns loaded! Chloe, start throwing rocks!"

Nico blinked. Apparently he had come on the entirely wrong day.

Johnny reached for the phone, feeling blood pour from a deep wound on the back of his head and neck. It was ringing. Someone had to tell them not to come back. Someone was here. He felt someone standing over him, someone who he knew Ben would want to see, the killer, the one… He had to tell them not to come back. 

"Hello? Who picked up?" he heard Twitch say.

"Don't come back," he gasped, feeling Magneto's foot on his arm. "Don't come back whatever you do…" he was yanked away and too his feet. "Ugh…" 

"Where is she?" Magneto said, eyes glowing. 

"Hurk…" Johnny managed to grunt, eyes bleary. He felt weak and numb all over.

"Where is this girl?" he said, holding up an image of Eevee. Johnny's eyes widened. "Where is she?"

"Ee…vee…" Johnny said softly. 

"WHERE?"

Johnny felt his vision fade and the last thing he saw was Magneto's angered face as he passed out.

Ben came down the stairs. "Magneto."

The master of magnetism turned to face him. "You again."

"There's no minion I can see to fight me," Ben said. "I guess you have to."

"I am not going to fight an insect like you," Magneto said. He dropped Johnny on the floor and turned around, his back facing Ben, an invitation. Ben hesitated. Was he really ready? Would he be able to defeat Magneto?

He watched Magneto leave and clenched his fists. No. Not yet. But next time.

Magneto motioned to Avalanche. "Tear it down," he ordered. Avalanche nodded, stretching his powers to the max, shaking the very foundations of the institute. The house shuddered, beginning to fall to pieces, fall into dust, fall to smithereens.

………………………………………..

Lew looked out and gasped. "Dudes, your house is…"

Eevee looked out of her jet window, gasping. "Oh no," she whispered, pressing her hands to the glass. "The others!"

"I sense Ben," Raven said. 

"What about everyone else?" Twitch asked urgently. "What about Johnny?"

"I…" she closed her eyes. "Jonah and Johnny, I cannot find. Chloe is alright." She shook her head. "I do not recognize this other presence…"

"Friend or foe?" Eevee asked.

"Friend," she said. "A new student."

"Your house got totaled," Lew said, finally finding the words. Raven glared at him, making him blush and look away. "Geeze, it's true…" He landed and let the others out. "I'll get help," he said. "Hang on for a few hours, okay?"

Raven nodded. He took off again, blowing Eevee's wavy hair around. "This is terrible," she said softly.

"Let's find everyone," Twitch said, teleporting.

Eevee looked over the destroyed mansion and felt tears rolling down her cheeks. "Do you think everyone's okay?"

Raven put a hand on her shoulder. "I am sure they are fine."

………………………………..

"Aphrodite. Athena. Hecate. I need them." He turned away from the computer screen in fury. "I need them now."

"You have Athena, sir," Lance said. "Kaylee."

"I know this," Magneto snapped. "But what of the sisters?"

"We're looking for the older one," Lance said. "And we know where the younger one is. She lives at the institute. We just have to go back at a later time."

"And what of our agent, the one with the older sister?"

Lance looked at his phone. "He called last night. He said he will send the name of her location tomorrow."

"Good boy," Magneto said, looking at a picture on his desk. "Good boy."

NEXT: Recovery

Well, what do you think? Review please!


	10. Behind the Glass

THOOM.

The lights flashed on, a burning sun in the eyes of the young boy strapped into the chair. The room was small, beams of golden light bouncing off of the stone walls surrounding him. The long mirror covered the north wall, and the boys stared into it, watching himself blink in the brightness. He knew there were people behind that mirror, watching him like a zoo animal, like some labrat in a maze. He knew to stare into his reflection imagining the doctors looking in. Doctor Harris was in there.

Doctor Harris. The straps on his arms prevented him from reaching up to feel his bare scalp, the old scars, the wounded flesh. Doctor Harris.

"Alright, now," a voice said. His eyes flickered to the speaker hanging from the ceiling. "Uh, C322."

He didn't move. He didn't answer. C322 was his name, and he was supposed to respond.

"C322?"

He reluctantly nodded.

"Okay," The voice was male, friendly, calm. It made him sick to his stomach. They all SOUNDED friendly. But they weren't. They never were. "We're going to try something new today, okay? We're going to make another wish. Remember when we turned off the lights and told you to find the kitty cat?"

"There was no cat," he said softly, looking into his own eyes in the reflection.

"You made it disappear, is that right?"

"There WAS no cat." His voice was insistant, to the point.

"Yes, of course," Behind the mirror, the speaking doctor turned to raise his eyebrows at the others, bemused. "No cat at all. Alright." Turning back, he watched as C322 flexed his right hand. "We're going to try something new. You know about mutants, right?"

He blinked. He was a mutant. "Yes." Why would they ask him such a question? It was pointless. Of course he knew about mutants. "Yes," he said again, after the few moments of silence became unbearable. The light glared in his eyes as he stared into his reflection intensely.

"Can you say something for me?"

He blinked again.

"Something important, C322."

He nodded slowly. He was vaguely interested. No one had ever ASKED him to do anything. Find the blocks, C322. Find the kitty cat. There WAS no cat.

"There aren't any mutants." The doctor sounded insistant, hopeful even. "There aren't any mutants, C322."

"There aren't any mutants," another doctor chimed in. "There aren't any mutants."

"But," C322 was confused. "But there ARE."

"No, C322," the first voice said.

"No mutants, C322." Another.

"None." And another.

"None at all." And ANOTHER.

"Stop it!" he shouted, cried in desperation. "There ARE mutants! There ARE!"

"No mutants."

"There aren't any mutants."

"No more mutants."

The voices continued, more chiming in as the chanting went on. His eyes flickered frantically around the room, feeling the pressure building up behind his eyes. The pressure was there. The voices continued.

"There are no mutants."

"No mutants, C322."

"There were never any mutants."

He closed his eyes so tightly they stung. The voices pressed in all around him, his ears buzzed, his eyes felt as though they would pop out of his skull. The pressure. It had to come out. It had to, or it would push out his eyes.

"None at all."

"THERE AREN'T ANY MUTANTS!!"

Complete silence fell across the room as the bulbs in all of the lights flickered and went out for a few seconds, coming back on and shining dimly. C322 had screamed this statement at the top of his lungs, trying to drown out the voices of the doctors behind the glass. The small boy fixed his eyes on the flickering lights, then stared back at his reflection.

"There aren't any mutants," he repeated. "There aren't any mutants." The pressure was relieved slightly as he accepted this as truth. "No mutants at all."

The doctors glanced around, looking, waiting for him to disappear. One even looked out into the hallway at the other cells. The mutants were all there.

"Why aren't they going away?" One asked. "Why aren't they disappearing?"

"Self preservation," Doctor Harris explained. "His powers will not allow him to destroy himself."

C322 looked around and he realized a new truth. What if? He wondered. He wanted to know, to learn the right thought, and without thinking, he whispered, "There... aren't any humans."

Doctor Harris blinked. "What is he doing?"

"There aren't any humans." C322 had discovered something.

"Open the vents," Harris ordered. "Send in some sleeping gas."

"The vents are jammed," C322 said, eyes glowing. "There aren't any humans. Do you hear me?"

"Sir, the vents are--"

"I know," Harris said. "C322, cease immediately. Right now, understand?"

"Don't you understand?" He continued. "There isn't any difference!"

Harris turned on the electrical systems on the chair, a punishment for bad behavior. C322 shook in agony. When he opened his eyes, he repeated. "There isn't any difference."

Harris punished him again, angry at his project. Mutants were not the same as humans.

This cycle continued, until C322 broke, not being able to stand the pain, not from Harris, not from any of them. In a fit of rage, uncontrollable fury urged him to shout, "You don't have any hands!"

The small observation room exploded in screams, as one by one, the doctors lost their hands, simply gone as blood poured from their wrists in bright red spurts. Harris looked them over calmly. He was safe from C322's wrath. His project was programmed never to harm him. He looked around at the screaming, panicking doctors, unconcerned, then left, turning off C322's lights and pressing a button in the hall, signaling for a janitor.

...

And this was all just a dream, vanishing from sight as Benjiman Malcolm Wyndgarde opened his silver eyes, blinking at his own share of bright light.

A hospital room, he realized. At a hospital. What happened to the infirmary, he wondered. Then he remembered, images of Magneto flooding his mind. He growled softly, realizing his stupid mistake. He could have ended it.

But he wasn't ready, he reasoned with himself. Not to face him. Not yet.

And someone out there was reaching for him. He closed his eyes. That was no dream. That was real. And whoever C322 was, he needed help. An image of a white haired girl being tossed around passed through his busy mind. She was there with C322. And more mutants were there, tortured, used. He became angry with this Doctor Harris, nearly as angry as C322. He had to do something. He had to do something SOON.


	11. Of Beta Team and Secret Missions

Episode 11: Of Beta Team and Secret Missions

"Is he awake yet?"

Eevee shook her head as Ben sat beside her, looking into Johnny's quiet room. "He hasn't woken up at all," she said shakily, glancing up to see Ben's reaction. He seemed unnerved and angry. "I think he might have been seriously hurt."

"I think he's fine," Ben said softly, trying to reassure her. "He's made of tougher stuff than that. Besides, we have something else to worry about."

"Like what?" Eevee was all too happy for something else to focus on.

"Nico Madison," he said. "We met him only a few days ago and he's been a huge help. I think he's extremely promising."

"You want him to be a new member of NeXt Gen," she smiled.

"No," he said. "But I've been wanting to talk to Johnny about the new student and everything. I wanted to talk about forming a second team."

She searched his eyes for a hint of something un-professional. "A second team? Why would you want to talk to Johnny about that? Why would you even want a second team?"

"Do you see how often we get split up?" Ben seemed upset and the situation, but still his anger disturbed her and hurt her feelings. "And because half of the team wasn't home, Johnny was hurt and we don't have a home. I think we should have a Beta team."

"And why Johnny?"

"He's a leader," Ben explained. "A natural one. He can't lead this team only because the position is filled."

Eevee gasped. "Oh, Ben, no!"

"What?"

"You can't make him leave NeXt Gen," Eevee cried. "You can't! It means so much to him, Ben. He loves this team, it's like his family!"

"Well, I can't very well give up Jonah, can I? I can't lose you either."

"And what makes you think you can lose Johnny?" She stood up. "Ben, he is more of a help than you know. He knows how to use his powers better than any of us, and he knows how to give orders when you're not around."

"That's the point, when I'm not around," he argued. "I'll always be around if there's a Beta team. There would never be a need to split the team."

"Why can't Twitch lead the second team?"

"Because Twitch is incompetent and you know it," Ben shouted, standing up as well. He was only an inch taller than her, but he still seemed menacing. "And Chloe can't lead."

"What about Nicolas?" Eevee said, refusing to shrink back. "Why can't the new team be lead by a new student?"

"I want to have a NeXt Gen mutant lead that team," Ben clenched his fists. "You know Johnny's the best choice. Leadership is in his blood, Eevee."

"You can't do that to him," she screamed. "I won't let you do that to him, not after this. Look at him, look how hurt he was when you kept him home from the mission. You know his injury is YOUR fault, Ben? Do you understand that if he had been with us, Magneto wouldn't have been able to hurt him?"

"Magneto could have hurt any of us," Ben retorted hotly. "Johnny was just unlucky. It could have been me."

"It could have been you, yeah right, you have a death wish anyway."

"Shut up!"

Eevee looked around as metal things began to vibrate loudly. Ben's eyes had begun to glow.

"This was NOT my fault," he shouted. "So SHUT UP."

"Ben," she whispered. "Stop. Look what you're doing." She began to shrink away from him, afraid he might lash out at her. He had already lashed out at Johnny once before in the Danger Room, slamming him into a wall after he questioned Ben's orders. Ben was capable of so much anger and rage, sometimes Eevee was afraid of him.

He glanced around and sighed. "Sorry," he said as the vibrations died.

"Where are the others?"

"Chloe's at home watching the house with Mr. Summers," he said. "And I sent Twitch, Jonah, Raven and Nico on a mission."

"Nico??" Eevee cried. "Ben, Nico's not trained!" She shook her head, knowing it was too late to argue anyway. "Why them? You only send Twitch and Raven on stealth missions."

"It is a stealth mission," he said. "Or more of a rescue operation."

"Where?"

"I sent them to Saint Augustine in Florida," he said softly, trying hard to scoot around the fact that this was all based on a dream, guesswork for the most part.

"What's in Saint Augustine?" She was almost afraid to ask. He was sending an odd team with an untrained rookie out to Saint Augustine without consulting with her first. This was either one of his instinct missions or something really, really bad. Or both, it was usually both, she thought.

Ben looked angry again as he turned toward the window, gazing south to a place he could not see with his eyes, but he saw it all too clearly in his mind. "One of the more horrifying US government secrets," he explained. "An underground facility designed specifically for the containment of and experimentation on mutants."

Eevee gasped in shock, covering her mouth. "Containment? Experimentation?"

"Those mutants need our help," he said. "And I am going to do the best I can. The three I sent should be sufficient as a scouting party, just to check out the place and map it out. Then we can all go storm the place."

"How do you know this place exists?"

He was silent for a moment. "It came to me in a dream," he said. "A boy called C322 reached out for me."

She stood perfectly still, not quite sure what she believed. Normally Ben was reliable, but he was going through an upsetting time. She trusted him only so far.

Still, she felt he knew what he was doing. Eevee Taylor nodded and sat down, looking back into Johnny's room as Ben left.

...

"So what's this place called?" Jonah asked, indicating the wooden sign.

Nico pulled aside some weeds that had grown over the sign. They were right near the iron doors that marked the entrance to the facility. "It says Fort Four," he said. "I guess it's called Fort Four."

"Let's get this over vith," Raven said irritably.

Nico stared at the sign for a few moments as Raven walked past him. Twitch touched his shoulder. "Come on, man."

"I'm coming," he said, but he was reluctant to leave the sign behind. He had seen that sign somewhere before, but the memory was hazy, as though it had been a dream. "How are we getting in there? I could knock down the door if you like."

"Ah don't think that would be a wise idea, friend," Jonah said, waving his gun at Nico to stop him. Nico flinched. He didn't like guns much and wasn't quite sure a teenager should be carrying one, much less a teenager who thought he was a cowboy from 1885.

"This is a quiet mission," Raven scolded. "Tvitch vill be teleporting us in."

The young mutant demon nodded, taking Nico's hand and Raven's. They were engulfed in a sulfurous plume, and then were gone.

NEXT: Fort Four!


	12. Fort Four

Episode 12: Fort Four

"Ow," Twitch whined. "Jonah, move over. You're stepping on my foot."

"Sorry," he said, pulling his foot up and backing into Nico. "Why the hell is this place so cramped? Ain't no space for a fellow."

"Watch it," Nico hissed, pressing against the wall. He glanced around, he couldn't see a thing. "Raven, where are you?" Her eyes began to glow, and the boys looked at her.

"Can yeh see?" Jonah asked.

"Ja," she said softly. "Ve have teleported into a custodial closet."

"Oh, great, I still haven't lived down teleporting into a dumpster and now this," Twitch moaned. "When will my life end?"

"Nico, you are way too large, friend," Jonah groaned, wedged between the Brit's huge arm and Raven's back. "How do yeh know we're in a custodial closet?"

"There's a mop on your head, Tvitch," Raven said coolly, finding the doorknob.

Nico stepped backward onto something soft and squishy. "I think I'm stepping on a sponge," he said softly. "It's really soft."

Twitch looked down at Nico's foot, his dark vision allowing him to see clearly. He squinted at the thing under the foot, and saw what it was connected to. He gasped in a breath and pressed into Raven. "The door," he cried, get the door open!"

"Vhat's wrong?" she asked.

"Can you just open the freaking door," Twitch whimpered.

"What am I stepping on?" Nico was thoroughly confused as Raven pushed open the door and light flooded in. He lifted his foot a little and saw that he had been stepping on a human face, body stretched out over a few more bodies, all missing hands. "Agod," he shouted, pushing against his teammates. causing them to fall headfirst into the hallway. Jonah was on the bottom of the pile, reaching for his hat, which had fallen off.

"Nico," Raven said, still calm but a little agitated. "Kindly remove your massive weight before ve are crushed."

He scrambled to his feet, looking back at the pile of handless bodies, from the look of them a few days old. "What happened to them, do you think?" he asked Jonah as he finally managed to stand, shoving his hat back on his head.

"Ah think we should get movin' before whoever they crossed finds out we're here," the western teen said.

Nico nodded as Twitch stepped out into another hallway. "All clear," he said. "There's a bunch of cells along this hall. I think this is where the mutants are incarcerated."

Raven floated behind him and motioned for the other two to follow quietly. Jonah readied his gun, and Nico got the odd feeling that this guy knew how to use it. He got another odd feeling, too, but he ignored it as he followed along behind his new teammates.

Raven looked into the firslt cell. "You vere right," she said to Twitch. "There are mutants here. Ten cells down this hallway, all holding a mutant. I think there are other cells down other halls."

"That's terri--" Nico began, then stopped as he looked into one of the cells. She was sleeping, and he squinted at her, trying to make her out through the dusty yellowing glass. Her long white hair cascaded over the sides of the uncomfortable stone bed, her pale skin almost matching the white walls of her cell. He was stricken by her beauty, a sort of beauty that wasn't the normal kind, but better, unique.

"Nico?" Jonah walked over and glanced in at her. "What the hell'r you lookin' at?"

"She's beautiful," Nico whispered.

"Yeah, so?" Jonah said. "There's plenty of pretty-- Nico, what in God's name are you doin'?"

Nico had started toward her cell door, putting a hand on the knob. "I'm getting her out of there."

"Nico, stop, we ain't rescuin' anybody," he said. "We're jus' here to scout! Nico!"

The large teen pulled the door right off of its hinges with a loud clanking noise. All four of them glanced up as red lights flashed and an alarm began to scream.

"Nico," Raven hissed.

He completely ignored both Raven and the alarms as he walked in, picking up the girl. She was completely covered up neck to toe. The noise caused her eyes to flutter open. They were a deep blue, shimmering with confusion as she saw Nico. "What are you doing?" she cried.

"Rescuing you," he said. "What do you think I'm doing?"

"RESCUING meh, put meh down," she shouted.

"We gotta go, Nico," Twitch said loudly.

"She doesn't want to be rescued," Jonah said, grabbing Nico's arm. "Put her down and let's go."

"I'm not leaving her here."

"Yes you are, put meh down or ah swear ahll--"

Someone shot at Raven. She saw it coming and a purple shield blocked the bullet. "Ve have been discovered, hurry Nico!"

"Come on," Twitch begged. "I'm not teleporting without you guys."

Jonah tugged on Nico's arm. "Let's go!"

The girl struggled as Nico made his way to Twitch. Jonah shot at several guards down the hall, and Nico saw that his feeling had been correct. Jonah Danger DID know how to shoot.

"Hurry up," Twitch said, hanging onto Raven as she blocked more bullets. Nico was being shot at as well, but he was not hurt as bullets simply bounced off. He turned his shoulder toward the guards to shield the struggling girl. As he reached Twitch and Raven, he grabbed the blue mutant's shoulder. "Come on," Twitch said, and Jonah took Nico's arm as the cloud of sulfur engulfed them.

...

The blackbird shook gently as Twitch pressed a few buttons, setting a course for Bayville.

"Nico," Jonah said, breathing heavily. "Rule number one on a stealth mission, never rescue anyone. Rule number TWO on a stealth mission, NEVER RESCUE ANYONE."

Nico glanced back at the girl, who was sitting alone, arms folded and staring angrily out the window. Her blue eyes burned with fury, and when she realized he was staring at her, she glared at him. "Why did you rescue meh?"

"I couldn't leave you there," Nico said softly. "It's horrible."

"You shouldn't have saved meh," she shouted. "Now the others are going to get in trouble, they're going to be punished because of you!"

"What are you talking about?" Twitch asked.

"When one of us does something wrong, the others get punished," she said sadly. "Last time one of us escaped we were all thrown into the hot room. Two of us were gassed."

Nico blinked and tried to look away.

"They said next time, they were goin' to kill more of us," she said. "Ah hope they're alright."

"I'm sorry," Nico said, finally managing to take his eyes off of her.

"You're sorry, ah told you to put meh down!"

"Can you not yell, miss?" Jonah said, rubbing his forehead. "Ah got a headache the size o' Texas."

"Whatever." she folded her arms and looked out the window, using her hair to hide her tears.

Nico looked back at her again. She was crying. Wincing a little, he stood and made his way over to her, sitting in the seat next to her. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," she said. "Ahm fine."

"I really am sorry," he said. "I didn't know. I just couldn't leave you in there."

"Ah understand," she said, pressing her cheek to the glass.

"My name is Nico," he held out a hand for her to shake.

She stared at his hand for a few moments, judging whether or not he should be trusted, and finally took it with her own gloved hand. "Ahm Lorelai."

He smiled at her, quite pleased that she smiled back.

...

His eyes opened, staring at the ceiling. His first thought escaped his lips. "Where am I?" his voice sounded strange to himself, not really understanding much of anything. "Where am I?" he said again, not really knowing what else to say. He sat up and looked around. He was alone, completely alone. Not that he knew who he wanted to see. He put his feet on the floor, wincing at the cold as he stood up. "Hello?" he called. "Hello, anyone there? Where am I?"

No one answered, and he made his way down the hall. "Hello?" he said weakly. "Anyone there?" When again, no one answered, he stopped to look in a mirror hanging on the wall. Bright green eyes stared back at him, a mop of red hair on his head, bandages wrapped around his forehead with a blood spot on the back. He squinted at himself.

"Who... who am I?"

NEXT: Young Wolf


	13. Young Wolf

Episode 13: Young Wolf

Jonah Danger stood with his hands in his pockets, staring up at the ancient Native American outfit used for hunting purposes. The Bayville Museum was limited, but at least there were some things he recognized there. Whenever he went, he was usually distracted by the large array of old western antiques. These things fascinated him in a way he couldn't understand; things that were brand new to him less than a year ago looked so worn and old now.

"Look, look mommy, a cowboy!"

He glanced to his right to see a young boy dragging his mother down the hall, pointing at him. As the boy got closer, Jonah removed his hat and crouched, resting an arm on his knee. "Howdy there, little fellah."

"Mommy, he even has a bandanna like a REAL cowboy," the boy said. "Look, look."

"Don't bother the nice man," his exhausted-sounding mother moaned.

"Oh, he ain't botherin' me, ma'am," Jonah assured. "What's your name?"

"Johnny," he said, practically jumping up and down. Jonah flinched. Johnny. He was missing.

"Well, Johnny," he said softly. "Can ah tell you a secret?"

"Yeah-huh!"

"Ah AM a real cowboy," he whispered theatrically.

"For SERIOUS?"

"Completely and totally for serious," he smiled. "And ahm lookin' for someone. Have yeh seen a red haired boy, round fourteen like, looks a little lost, or stupid?"

"No," the boy thought about it and shook his head. "Sorry."

"Well, maybe you've seen this," he said, pulling out an old photo of a violin. "Seen this anyplace on your travels?"

The boy squinted at it. "Yeah-huh."

"Yeh HAVE?"

"I have," he said proudly, puffing out his chest. "It's at the museum of history in Westchester. It's got those same markings and everything."

"J.D, just like this?"

"Yeah-huh!"

Jonah grinned and ruffled little Johnny's hair. "Thanks, kid. Ah owe yeh one."

"Do you got a gun, mister cowboy?"

"Time to go," his mother grabbed his ear between two fingers and dragged her squealing son away.

"Bye now," Jonah called after him.

"Jonah," Ben said as he entered the hallway. "What are you doing in here, we're supposed to be looking for Johnny."

"Sorry Ben," he apologized, standing up and putting his hat back on. "Got sidetracked. Won't happen again, ah promise."

"Well, he won't be in here," said Ben, rolling his eyes behind his thick glasses. "It's a museum, for God's sake. He's probably at the mall or something, flirting with the girls in the food court."

"Why would Johnny jus' run off like he did?"

"Who knows why Johnny does ANYthing?" Ben seemed agitated. He was always agitated when it came to Johnny Summers. "All we know is, he woke up and wandered off, I can't contact his mind, and he isn't using his powers so cerebro can't find him."

"Do yeh think maybe he's hidin' from us?" Jonah looked down at his boots. None of them were ever exactly nice to Johnny. Not that Johnny was ever exactly nice to them. "Ah really hope he's alright out there all by himself."

"I'm sure he's fine," he said. "He's JOHNNY, remember?"

"Yeah," Jonah sighed. "Ah remember."

...

Jasmine wandered alone, trying hard to look uninviting, she was sick of people walking over and asking her who gave her a black eye. She rubbed it absently, not really feeling the faint sting. It would be gone in a few days. All of her wounds seemed to just be gone after a few days. She had a sign on her forehead that shouted 'Leave me the Hell alone', and she was always wearing it. The world didn't need her, and she didn't need it.

She was ripped from her own universe by a shout. She glanced up from her shoes to see a red haired boy being pushed around. Why did all the ass holes come to the park? Three or four guys were pushing him in a circle and back onto the bench where he had been sitting. She tried hard to forget it and leave, but the boy was pushed down to the ground and he cried out as he scraped his knees. She clenched her fists and her eyes narrowed. She hated bullies.

Walking over, anger just seeming to follow her, and the group of boys stopped pushing him around as they looked over at Jasmine. "Got a problem, girl?" One of them asked.

"Yeah," she said. "I got a problem. Get the Hell away from him."

"Aw, is the little squirt your boyfriend?" Another teased.

"Get out of here."

"Why should we," the first one sneered. No way was he scared of this short, dark-looking girl who he had never seen before. "We were just starting to have fun."

She shrugged. "I warned you." Sneering back, she slammed her fist into the guy's gut. "Now let ME have some fun."

"Holy--" A few of them started to run as their leader doubled over. Kicking, she slammed her foot into an uncomfortable place to be hit. He groaned and fell over, curling up on the ground.

"You okay?" she asked the red haired boy, who was getting up and watching the other boys run in awe. "Hey, kid. You alright?"

He nodded. The bandage around his head told her most of what she needed to know.

"Aren't you supposed to be in bed with a wound like that?" She asked, feeling a rare surge of concern. Maybe he was beaten too.

"I... I don't know," he said sadly, sitting down. "I don't know... anything."

"What's your name?" She asked, sitting down next to him.

"I don't know," he whispered, looking afraid.

"You don't know?" Jasmine was surprised. Maybe he was supposed to be in the hospital. "Where did you come from?"

"There was a big white room," he said. "I left to find someone who could help me. Now I don't know where I am. I'm all disoriented. God, my head is spinning."

She cringed. This was worse than she thought. It wasn't something she wanted to get involved in. "The hospital's right there," she said, pointing. "There are people there who can help you. Go on." She didn't really want to leave him alone, but she couldn't help him. She had to get home before she lost control again.

He looked fearfully at her back as she walked away. "Don't go," he whispered. "I don't know anyone else..."

...

Jonah was as surprised as Jasmine was when he walked right into her. Her bag split open, things tumbling out, and he dropped the map he was looking over. "Watch where you're--" Jasmine began, but she stopped to laugh. "What the Hell are you wearing?"

"Clothes," he said, shrugging. He was used to this.

"What the Hell are you supposed to be, the Lone Ranger?" she snickered and covered her mouth. "Oh my God."

He rolled his eyes and folded his arms as she leaned down to put her stuff back in he bag. He knelt to help her.

"Now what are you doing?"

"Ahm helping," he said simply. "What else am ah supposed to do?"

"Get out of here, Annie Oakley," she said. "I don't need help."

He stood, startled. This girl was not nice. "Fine," he said. "But have yeh seen a red haired boy around here anywhere? Fourteen round? Stupid lookin'?"

"Yeah," she said, pointing. "That way."

He looked over and nearly jumped for joy. Johnny was carefully and silently following her a few paces behind, not wanting to let her out of his sight. She rolled her eyes. "Please get rid of him. He won't leave me alone."

Jonah ran to hug him and Johnny backed away. "Hey, fellah," Jonah said. "It's alright now. Ah found yeh."

"Who are you?"

"Ahm... it's me, Jonah," he said. "Johnny, what's wrong?"

"Who's Johnny?" he looked confused. "Am I Johnny?"

Jasmine flinched. Poor kid. "Are you taking him back to the hospital, Lone Ranger?"

Jonah nodded, ignoring her name calling. "Ah gotta get him back. Ah had no idea he was this bad though. Don't even remember me."

Not fully trusting him, Jasmine smirked. "So he doesn't know you," she said. "But you know him. What if I said I don't believe your his friend?"

"Want proof?" Jonah asked.

"Sure," she said, growling as Jonah reached for her hand to shake. "I don't do handshakes."

"Jus' a little wolf, aintcha," he muttered. "Fine. You want proof? Come with me."

She folded her arms and followed Jonah and the amnesiac boy towards the hospital. How did they always find her, she wondered. How did the freaks always manage to find her.

NEXT: Wolverine


	14. Wonder Bread and Skippy Peanut Butter

_Here's chapter 14, enjoy!_

Episode 14: Wonder Bread and Skippy Peanut Butter

"So you don't remember... anything."

Johnny shook his head, looking confusedly from Ben to Jonah, his supposed best friends. He recognized nothing about them at all, from Ben's large glasses to Jonah's outrageous cowboy hat. For some reason, the fact that Jonah was wearing a bright red bandanna over the bottom half of his face struck him as funny, and he only barely kept himself from laughing. Jonah looked concerned, he had looked that way ever since he found Johnny in the park. Ben looked simply... blank. He seemed to have no emotion in his silver eyes, no expression on his thoughtful-looking face. Ben was certainly a real trip.

"What about these people?" Ben handed Johnny a photograph, and he looked it over. A pretty woman with long red hair, red like his, a tall man with red tinted sunglasses, a small girl with a huge grin on her face, and himself. He shook his head, looking up at Ben with something like desperation.

"Those people are yehr family," Jonah said loudly, also looking somewhat desperate. "Yehr ma and pa, and yehr sister Rachel."

"I don't... recognize them," Johnny said sadly. "I'm... I'm sorry...?"

"Do you know ANYthing?" Ben asked in complete exasperation. This was going absolutely nowhere and he still had to cross-examine Lorelai from Fort Four.

"I know I'm hungry," he answered immediately. "I'm really, really hungry. Is there Wonder Bread and Skippy peanut butter anywhere around here?"

"You don't remember your parents, but you remember Wonder Bread and Skippy peanut butter?" Ben rubbed his temples with his thumbs. "I hope I never, ever need to go into your mind."

"I remember I like to run," he said softly as Ben stormed out. So this Ben was already angry at him for something. This, for some unknown reason, made him want to swear. "Shit," he said, to satisfy the urge.

Now he wanted to put a dollar in a jar. He shook his head violently. What the heck was THAT about?

"Yeh alright?" Jonah put a hand on his shoulder. "Johnny? D'yeh need anythin'?"

"Yeah, a sandwich," he said.

Jonah looked at him sadly, ruffling his hair. "Ahll get one for yeh," he said, standing and walking out the door. Before he closed it, he looked back. "Yeh're gunna be okay, Johnny."

Johnny nodded and the door snapped shut. He was alone now, and he suddenly felt very cold and small. Pulling his knees to his chest, he sighed. What does one think about without memories?

...

Chloe stood up immediately as Ben entered the waiting room, pulling herself out of Eevee's arms. "Is he gunna be okay?" she squeaked, and she sounded like she had been crying for a while. "Is Johnny gunna be okay?"

"He's... fine, Chloe," Ben lied. "Why don't you go find Raven and tell her to come here."

The small girl, now hovering a foot off the ground, nodded. "Okee-dokee," she said as she rocketed out of the room.

"So how is he really?" Eevee asked, folding her arms. Tears sparkled at the corners of her eyes, but she struggled to remain strong. If she broke down, she was letting down Chloe. She had to be calm and centered, to be a good role model for the impressionable little girl.

Ben sighed and folded his own arms after running a hand through his longish hair. "He doesn't remember anything," he said slowly. "Not me, not Jonah, not his parents or his sister. He barely knows who he is."

Eevee's chin quivered and she buried her face in her hands. "Oh no. Oh no, no, no."

"This isn't so bad, Eevee," he said. "If he doesn't remember being on Alpha team, he won't object to leading Beta team."

"What?" Eevee removed her hands from her face, squinting at her team leader. "What in bloody Hell are you talking about?"

"Johnny would have never left Alpha team for Beta team, you know that," Ben tried to reason. "But now he doesn't remember Alpha team, or that he was a part of it. He'll lead Beta team without complaint."

"Ben, no," Eevee objected, shaking her head. "You can't. That's taking advantage of his injury, that's wrong!"

"It makes everything so much easier," he tried to explain. She had to understand, she had to.

"For you!" She shouted, almost spat at him, standing up. A few tears were escaping her, cascading in silent, salty streams down her cheeks. "But what about Johnny? So what if he doesn't remember, Alpha team was still everything to him. It's horrible to try and take advantage of him like that!"

"He doesn't remember."

"Well, I do," she said, wiping at her cheek with the back of her hand. Her curly hair bounced as she turned to the door. She stopped to look back at him before she left, eyes burning brightly with the fires inside of her. "Where'd you put our Ben?" she whispered.

He flinched as she slammed the door. Maybe she was right, okay, he could admit that. But there was no other way. Johnny would understand.

But somehow, Eevee affected him a little too much.

...

Jonah stepped into the hospital's small patient kitchen and stopped dead. That mean girl was here. She looked up at him from her position at the counter. "Oh, hey, Lone Ranger."

"Hey, Jasmine," he said. "Yeh know, name-callin' ain't nice."

"Why not?" She flipped her hair dismissively. "You need something?"

"Wonder bread and Skippy peanut Butter," he said, putting his hands in his pockets. "Not that ahve ever heard of those."

"You've never heard of...?" she laughed a little. "Where've you been for the past sixteen odd years of your life?"

"The eighteen hundreds," he said wistfully, grabbing the peanut butter. "Good ol' California, 1885."

"What?" Jasmine stopped laughing. "You're serious."

"Why wouldn't ah be?" Jonah finished the sandwich and put it on a plate. "Now if yehll excuse meh, ma'am, ah have this sandwich to deliver." He tipped his hat to her and walked out, leaving Jasmine torn between confusion and pity. What a crazy guy.

"Wait," she called. He stopped and glanced over his shoulder. "You're Jonah, right?"

"Jonah Danger, at yehr service, ma'am," he said.

"Okay," she nodded. "See you, Annie Oakley."

"See yeh, Young Wolf," he smiled and kept walking, turning a corner. She smiled too, but only after he was out of sight. What a crazy guy. But he was kind of cool.

NEXT: What is Fort Four??

_Okay, there you go, please review._


	15. Wolverine

Episode 15: Wolverine

Logan lifted his nose to the wind, sniffing the air surrounding the trees. The bike was noisy, but not noisy enough to block the sound of an approaching car on the Institute gravel driveway, not for his super-sensitive ears. He wondered who would be coming to the school now that it was being rebuilt. It had just been him and Chloe for a long while.

He sniffed again, trying to make out the occupants of the car, now stepping out onto the driveway. There was Ben, he had a distinctive smell that Logan could never understand. He smelled Jonah, and then he wrinkled his nose as he smelled Johnny Summers, the rat. He smelled Eevee... perhaps the whole troop was coming home now. Yes, he could sniff out the whole team. Then his brow furrowed. Now there was a smell he hadn't encountered for a long time, and the smell of beer and stale peanuts wafted into his memory. She couldn't come back, not now... but it wasn't her, the smell was off.

It smelled like _himself._

Logan stopped his bike and got off, looking at the gates. Who could smell like him, besides Laura, who had been gone for so long he could barely remember the sound of her voice? He listened carefully, trying to hear the conversation being had.

"Johnny, be careful, if you slip you'll hit your head again..." Eevee held up the injured boy as he almost toppled over. He mumbled something in protest and she laughed. "Don't worry, silly, no one here is going to laugh if you fall. Right guys?"

"Yeah," Ben muttered. "Right."

Off to the side, Jonah was talking to the stranger, hands in his pockets. "So then ah said, 'Howdy partner, listen, ah don't want to fight this mornin'. How about tomorrow?' And he jus' looks me up and down and shoots at me! Right there in the bar!"

The girl, the stranger, laughed a little, and he listened as hard as he could. It wasn't Laura, and it wasn't Justine. Thank God it wasn't Justine. He hadn't seen her since that night, and he never wanted to see her again.

He cringed at the thought of what had happened between them, how he had suddenly lost control, how he had left before she woke up in a desperate attempt to spare her feelings. He could never have a relationship for that very reason... once the girl was in love with him, everything fell to pieces.

He squinted at the girl, who had stopped laughing and was listening to Jonah tell the rest of his delusional story about how he had escaped the jaws of death back in 1884. Maybe it wasn't Justine, but it looked like her, sounded like her, and he could smell her on the stranger. Putting the story slowly together, he sighed and closed his eyes.

So that night did have a consequence after all.

...

"Johnny Summers, age 14, hair red, eyes hazel/green," Cerebro recited. "His mutant ability allows him to act at super speed, he has in fact managed to break the sound barrier. His secondary mutation allows him limited telekineses. Weaknesses: Unable to operate both powers at once, slightly swelled ego, over-confidence issues."

Xavier sighed and turned off the living room Cerebro screen. "That's what the computer knows about you," he said, looking at the confused amnesiac sitting on the couch between Jonah and Eevee. "Here is waht WE know about you." He turned the television on and a home video began to play.

"No, Johnny, that isn't yours," Jean was saying, pulling the train out of her four-year-old's hand. "That's Catty's train."

"Mine," he whined.

"No, Johnny, Catty's."

"Mine!"

"It's okay, Mrs. Summers," a girl's voice said off-screen, maybe ten or eleven years old. "He can have the train, it's old anyway."

The scene cut to Johnny in his first danger room exercise, running around at lightning speeds and constantly asking his father if he could see him. He was promptly knocked over by a laser. Jonah and Eevee laughed. Ben, leaning against the wall with his arms folded, smiled slightly.

It then cut to Johnny's fourteenth birthday, he and Ben fighting over who got to play with his new X-Box first. Ben won.

The video turned off, and Xavier rolled up to Johnny. "Do you remember anything at all?" he asked sadly.

Johnny shook his head, feeling sorry for the old, tired man. He was obviously hurt and upset at Johnny's lack of memory. He had a feeling he used to call this man gramps.

...

Logan waited for the new girl to be shown to a room before coming inside. He needed to avoid her, feeling guilty and, for some reason lost to him, angry. Out of all the girls he had slept with, out of all of them, JUSTINE had a kid. He couldn't believe his foul luck.

He came through the living room, putting his helmet back on. He had to get back out again. He would disappear for a few months in Canada, to clear his head. Maybe he would disappear forever. That's what happened at his last hideout. He had hit a problem, and he left, and never went back. The Xavier Institute would just be one more place.

He reached for the doorknob and sniffed. Someone was standing on the other side, and he caught a scent. Someone ELSE who smelled like him, he thought. What is wrong with my luck today. He hesitated before opening the door. There was someone else with this person, a smaller female. Cringing, he opened the door.

There she was, in all of her glory, and Logan was almost overjoyed. Laura was back. "Laura," he said, hoping she would say something, hoping he could hear her voice. The only thing close to family he had ever had was back.

"Logan," she said, almost sadly, but there was a small smile on her face. "I'm not staying," she added quickly, as to not get his hopes up. "I just came to drop off my daughter."

He stared at her, confused, and then looked down. Holding tightly onto Laura's hand was a small, sweet-looking ten-year-old girl, who looked at Logan with interest. "Hi," she said. "I'm Alexis. You must be my Grandfather."

He looked back at Laura in shock. She grinned and shrugged.

Just when he thought things couldn't get worse, Justine's daughter walked out of the kitchen with Eevee, and she stopped dead upon seeing him in the doorway, staring at him. "Father," she said, face contorting with rage. "You're Wolverine, right? My father?"

Logan groaned. All he wanted at that moment was a cold beer.

NEXT: The Doctor Returns!

_Thank you all so much for waiting patiently... this is gunna get good, I swear. And I'm bringing back my favorite villan! Please Review, if you have time._


	16. Old Enemies, New Friends

Episode 16: Old Enemies, New Friends

"We were from all over," Lorelai began shakily. "Some of us didn't even have names. Ah was lucky-- the mind wipe didn't totally erase mah past. We came to trust each other like family, 'cause we were all we had."

"What was Fort Four all about?" Ben asked, glancing at Eevee. She was still angry with him, arms folded and tight lipped. Nico sat on the other side of the room, looking at everything but Lory, scuffing his feet on the carpet.

"Fort Four was a place for the government to study Mutants without worrying about pesky laws," she said. "All of us were different. It was run by a guy called Doctor Harris. He oversaw all of the projects going on, including mine."

"Where are you from?" Nico asked suddenly.

"Ah think ah used to live in New Orleans," she said. "With mah parents."

"And this Doctor Harris stole you?" Ben leaned closer and pushed his glasses up his nose. If there was any proof that any of those mutants were taken against their will, he could send in a rescue team. After seeing that boy in his dreams, he knew he had to help somehow.

She nodded. "Ah think so."

Ben looked at Eevee again, raising his eyebrows at her. She rolled her eyes and nodded. Grinning, he looked back at Lorelai. "We're going in," he said. "As soon as we can, alright? We're going to help the others."

"Ah still don't understand why you rescued meh," she said, looking at Nico curiously. "Why just meh and no one else?"

"I... I'm not sure," he answered nervously, looking away again. "I guess I just felt like I had to get you out of that horrible place."

She tilted her head to the side, letting her long white hair cascade over her shoulder. She was trying really hard to read this guy, and he was making it extremely difficult. She remembered something her mother said to her about boys, that none of them were what they seemed to be on the surface, that they were so much worse. She sure hoped that this guy was as sweet and teddy bear-ish as he seemed. If his personality was anything like what he physically appeared as, he might be a tough guy, a strong idiot, but that didn't seem to be the case. He spoke softly, carefully choosing each word before he said it, not brutish at all. She smiled, trying to catch his eye, but he still didn't look at her.

Ben walked toward the door. "Thank you, Lorelai," he said. "You're a huge help. I really appreciate it. Eevee, could you find somewhere for her to sleep?"

Eevee, disgruntled though she was, unfolded her arms and smiled at Lory. "Come on," she said. "Let's get you settled in."

...

Twitch yanked on the phone cord as Ben walked in, trying to unravel himself. He tended to pace when he was on the phone, especially when he was talking to Dani. Usually, he wound up so tangled in the phone wire that someone had to come in and help him. Ben was completely ignoring him, however.

"Um," he said. "A little help?"

Ben continued to whistle and opened the fridge.

"Well, you're in a good mood," Twitch was shocked. "A first for the only guy who can out-brood Raven, the terror in the night. What's up?"

"Oh, nothing, I just found out it's legal for us to send in a rescue operation to Fort Four," he said, pouring a glass of lemonade. "Want some?"

"No thanks," Twitch said. "Erm... can you... um... untangle me?"

"You do know what this means, right?" he sat down, still oblivious to Twitch's predicament. "This means all those poor mutants in there are free. We can help them."

"You can also help me," Twitch said desperately.

"I really love it when we get to help people who actually need us," he said, grinning. "It makes me feel like what I'm doing is worth it, like we really can be appreciated for what we do."

Twitch fumed, wondering when Ben was going to realize that he was slowly losing circulation in his left leg.

"Don't you love it when we finally can help people who need us?" Ben asked, getting up to leave. "Doesn't it feel great?"

"Yeah, sure," Twitch groaned.

As Ben reached the door, he turned and looked at Twitch. "Hey, do you need some help with that phone cord?"

...

It was midnight when Alexis was startled awake. It had been hours waiting for her mom and grandfather to stop talking. When that girl walked into the living room, it had taken Eevee, her mother and herself to drag her off of Logan. Jasmine had such a short fuse, as a matter of fact Alexis thought that maybe she didn't have a fuse. They had to be kept in separate locked rooms for three hours before Jasmine calmed down. When they had let Jasmine out, however, she had jumped back onto Logan. So they decided to send Jasmine out of the house, so that Laura and Logan could talk in peace.

She got out of the little bed Logan had let her sleep in and wondered if maybe that knock on the door had been her father, Alex Summers. He had said he was going to be here after they showed up so he could spend time with her. She couldn't understand why he would come so late at night, though. Heading for the iron doors to the lower levels, Alexis was actually slightly frightened.

Pushing the doors open was a challenge for her skinny ten-year-old form, and she squealed when lightning crashed and illuminated the cloaked and hooded man. He shushed her. "Little girl," he said in a harsh whisper. "I need to speak to Benjiman."

"Who are you?" she asked, shivering as rain got on her nightgown. This guy creeped her out, and she could feel the goosebumps spreading up her arms and the hairs raising on the back of her neck.

"I'm a friend of his," he said. "Well, not really a friend. An acquaintance. I need to speak with him, it is urgent."

She squinted up at him. "I'll go get him," she said. "You stay here."

He nodded.

"Don't move," she warned, closing the door. Running down the hall, she got to Ben and Jonah's room. "Ben," she whispered. The two had been introduced earlier and she thought he was really stiff. "Ben, someone's here."

The door opened and Ben stepped out, putting on his glasses. He didn't look like he had been asleep. "Who is it?"

"This guy with a hood and a cloak," she said. "He looks like Batman."

Ben's eyes widened. "He's here? Now?"

"Yeah, right now."

He looked at the door and furrowed his brow. If the Doctor was here, he must want something. He hadn't seen hide nor hair of the man for four years. Now here he was again.

Curiosity overtook him as he walked to the door and pushed it open. Alexis remained at Ben's door, shaking, her bare feet numb on the cold metal floor. The Doctor still stood there, waiting patiently. In one swift movement, Ben grabbed the front of his cloak and pulled him inside, slamming him against the wall.

"Who AM I?!"

NEXT: The Doctor Talks


	17. Information

"Benjiman," the Doctor said. "Perhaps you can invite me inside politely instead of throwing me around like a sack of meat."

"It's funny how you think being snide is going to help you," Ben growled. "Now answer the question. Who am I?" He could not remember a time in his life where he had been so angry at one person. Here he was, after four years, evading capture. Here he was, the one man who could tell him who he really was.

"You really want to know?" The Doctor stopped struggling in Ben's grip. He seemed to be right where he wanted to be.

"Yeah," he said. "I want to know."

"I will tell you." his mouth curled into a smile that could kill a man.

Ben, shocked, dropped the man and stepped away. The cloaked enigma stood and brushed himself off. "What?" He hadn't expected it to be so easy. He wanted to have fought for the truth. He was getting it for free. "What do you want?" He said.

"I will tell you everything you could ever want to know," he said. "If you do me a small, insignificant favor."

"And what's that?" he asked hesitantly. He could get in serious trouble for doing this on his own.

"You have to stop Magneto," he said quietly, folding his arms.

...

Jonah got up just before Jasmine walked into the kitchen for breakfast. "Hi, Lone Ranger," she said, sitting down with a bowl of cereal. "How's the weather in 1885?"

"Not so bad," he answered absently. "Hey, you know ah was shot once?"

"Really?" she reached for the milk. "Can I see?"

He smiled and rolled up his shirt sleeve. A large scar where a bullet had grazed him was immediately visible. "Right there," he said. "Ah almost dodged a bullet."

"Hey, I got shot too," she said excitedly, pulling her shirt up a little so he could see her stomach. "Aw man," she groaned. "Gone already, it was just this morning."

He raised his eyebrows as Johnny walked in with Nico. "Bodyguard, sit," Johnny ordered the large teen.

"Ha ha," Nico said. "Just because I'm on Johnny-watch duty doesn't mean I'm your bodyguard. I will let people beat you up."

Johnny frowned and dropped into his chair. "Woo hoo, life sucks this morning. How's it going, blast from the past?"

Jonah scowled. "Mah name is Jonah."

"I know," he said. "And you're Jasmine, and this big guy here is Rico."

"Nico," the British boy corrected.

"Nico," Johnny grinned. "Hey, I'm getting better!"

"Morning, all," Eevee stepped in, yawning.

"Stevie, right?" Johnny pointed at her. She scowled as he burst out laughing. "Just kidding. I know your name is Beevee."

She groaned and sat down. "Whatever."

Ben came in right behind her. "Hey, Len!!" Johnny smiled and reached for a handshake. He was brushed aside quickly.

"No time, Johnny," he said. "We have more information on the three goddesses issue."

"Really?" Eevee looked up. "Like what? Enough to call Professor Ford?"

"Yes," he said. "Plenty of new information. We know what Magneto's doing." He sat down and made sure everyone was paying attention. "He's planning on waking something up. Something evil, and ancient. And really, really bad. The thing is supposed to destroy Homo Sapien."

"Something that can kill every human being on the planet?" Nico shook his head, leaning against the counter. "Why would he want to wake up something like that?"

"Because he thinks it doesn't include mutants," Eevee pointed out. "He believes it will kill everyone but mutants."

"Exactly," Ben said. "But he's wrong. But before we get into the actual waking up stage, he needs four people."

"Four?" Johnny looked at him. "I thought it was only three? Three Goddesses, right?"

"He needs three female mutants," he said. "I don't know who. But I do know that he needs Nico."

"Me?" Nico pointed at himself. "Why on Earth would he need me for?"

"Well, he really needs Thomas Madison," he said. "Your father. He discovered the ruins where this thing is buried. You were there, Nico, and Thomas Madison was your father. Since he's dead now, Magneto needs the only other person that has seen the tomb, you."

Nico paled. "We discovered that thing's tomb?"

"What's going on?" Lorelai walked in and leaned on the back of Jonah's chair, stealing a strawberry from his plate. "Thanks, sugah."

"Magneto's plan to destroy the world is about to be thwarted," Johnny summed up.

"So that's why Magneto was here," Eevee said. "To get Nico. He had just arrived!"

"Yeah," Jonah nodded. "That makes sense."

Johnny squinted at his plate. He was remembering something, but he couldn't hold onto it. Somehow, he knew that Magneto was not there to get Nico.

"So what are we going to do about it?" Raven whispered as she and Twitch walked in. Twitch looked at her in confusion.

"Do about what?" he asked the telepath.

"We're going to stop him," Ben said definitively. "All of us, NeXt Gen and the Guardians."

"Cool," Johnny said. "A mission."

"You're not going," he said sternly. "You're injured. You've been temporarily replaced by Nico."

"What?" Nico said, dropping his spoon. "I can't be on a bloody super hero team!"

"Aw man," Johnny whined, getting up and leaving. "Come on, Fico."

"It's Nico," he corrected miserably as he followed him out.

...

"Hey," Lory said as she leaned against Nico's door frame. He was at his computer, typing furiously.

"Hello," he said, looking up and smiling at her. "Lorelai."

"Are you okay?" she asked, sitting on his bed. He turned around in his chair. "Ah mean, you seemed pretty upset-like when that Ben told you about how you're going on that mission."

"I'm alright," he reassured her. "I just need time to adjust. It's only temporary, after all. Besides, I was on that mission to Fort Four."

"Right," Lory nodded. "Listen, mah room is just there, if you ever wanna talk, ahm available."

He nodded as she got up. "Okay."

She stopped at the door and waved at him before walking down the hall, pushing her white hair over her shoulder. Nico sighed. She was really a beautiful girl.

...

"So we have a deal?"

Ben didn't even look towards the window. He knew the Doctor was standing in the shadows. "Yes," he said. "We have a deal."

"Good," he hissed. "No one knows but me, Ben, remember. If you want to know the truth, you need me."

"I know," Ben growled. "Now get out."

He laughed and Ben heard him throw his cloak around himself. Scowling at the wall, Ben rolled over and tried not to think about his treachery. When anyone had asked him where he got the information, he had said he had dreamed it up. But this was the only way to learn the truth.

Wasn't it?

"Remember our deal," the Doctor hissed as he disappeared.


	18. Painful Memories

Episode 18: Painful Memories

Kaylee ran into the control room and stopped short as Magneto looked up from his paperwork. "What the heck is going on?" she cried, putting her hands on her hips. "What's all this about pushing up the schedule?"

"We have to hurry, child," he said. "We all have to hurry now that they know our plans. Getting the two from the institute will be difficult enough. My contact has not yet sent the location of the third key. Nothing is going as planned. We have to improvise."

"But, I thought you said I had more time," she said softly, as Magneto stood and walked over. He put a large, almost gentle hand on her shoulder.

"There is no need to be nervous, my beloved student," he said reassuringly. "You will be ready on time. Why don't you go train with my son?"

She nodded as she left, looking somewhat comforted as she made her way down the hall and knocked on Richiu's door. He opened it, looking as stoic and silent as ever, the blue scarf around his neck. "Hey Richiu," she said. "I'm supposed to train with you."

He signed slowly. 'I can't train right now, Kaylee.'

"Please," she said. "The whole schedule has been moved up. I really need to train."

He rolled his eyes and pushed his dark hair into a ponytail. 'Oh alright,' he signed. 'But only an hour, okay?'

She nodded, grateful for Richiu, the only other person her age that lived here. Training with any of the Acolytes was hard, with all of their experience in combat with the X-Men. Richiu was no pushover, but he was slightly easier to beat.

The training room was rounded and dome-shaped, the ceiling going higher than she could see. The shadows covered the corners of the ceiling and the floor. Plenty of places for Richiu to hide in, she thought. I have to be careful. Richiu seemed to notice this too as he stepped in and smiled. He looked at her and caught her eye. 'I'm going to go and get my swords,' he signed. 'I will be right back.'

She nodded and watched him go, preparing her telekinetic power for what promised to be a rough session. Her hair always seemed to get in the way, but she refused to put it up yet. Putting up her hair was a sign of defeat to Richiu, a sign that she was not in control anymore. She wouldn't let that silent creep have the satisfaction. She was always slightly weirded out by Richiu, not only because he was the son of her teacher but because of his way of making a room colder. He would walk in and goosebumps would crawl up her arms and the hairs on the back of her neck would stand up. He had an uneasy aura, one she could sense telepathically as easily as she could read a book.

Richiu returned, swords in hand. They were thin blades, perfect for quick skirmishes. 'Ready?' he motioned to Kaylee.

"Why did you say you couldn't train?" Kaylee asked curiously. He shook his head and ignored her question, which made her angry. He was mute, not deaf. "Answer me."

He looked at her. 'It's none of your business. Are we going to train or what?'

"Fine," she said. "Whatever."

...

Lory rolled over, the memories overtaking her, the dark corners of her mind swimming up to meet her dreams. She remembered what they did to her, putting her in small rooms and leaving her for days, and she could never breathe in small places. They had always made her nervous. Her room began to feel cramped and she stood, gasping for air. She couldn't stay here. Running into the hallway, she searched desperately for an open area.

She barely noticed that she was wearing nothing but shorts and a tank top as she rushed into the living room, blind to everything as she ran for the front door. Twitch turned off the television and stood. "Lorelai?" he said. "What are you doing out of bed?"

He approached her, feeling that maybe she needed something, but moved out of the way as she grabbed the door knob leading outside, yanking frantically. She was panicking, murmuring to herself that she was boxed in, she couldn't breathe.

"Lory," he said, using the nickname they had all picked up for her, trying to calm her down. "It's one in the morning. Are you feeling alright?"

She didn't answer, didn't even look at him or acknowledge his presence. He reached out and touched her arm, her bare arm with his hand.

He didn't know what was happening at first, he thought that maybe he was going into diabetic shock. It felt pretty much the same, except that this came with a dull burning that spread up his hand and got more intense as it reached his shoulder, something like sticking your hand into an electrical socket. He cried out in pain as light flashed all around them, trying to pull away.

Lory was shocked out of her claustrophobic attack and saw Twitch, who pulled away and fell backwards, collapsing onto the floor. Images flooded her mind, of an orphanage in the city, of hiding out in his room to avoid the screaming laughter and taunts of the other kids. She shook her head, trying to block out a girl's laughing face, the picture of a horrible accident while he was sitting in the backseat of the car...

Screaming, she dropped to her knees, holding her head. "Help meh," she cried. "Oh God someone help meh!"

...

Kaylee dodged another quick blow to her side. "Not going to get me that easy," she laughed at him. Richiu scowled. She liked to talk during the training sessions. He liked silence. "Quick, here I am."

He teleported and faded into a shadow in the back of the room. His favorite tactic was to confuse her and jump out from everywhere at once. She never knew what to do when he used his secondary power. He concentrated and doubles of himself appeared all around her, a good twenty of him all with swords and his abilities and strategies.

She squealed softly as she flew upward, to her dismay she had no idea what to do. She cursed Richiu under her breath and began to fight off the opponents as best she could.

She was slightly baffled when the clones began to disappear on their own, and even more confused when the real Richiu dropped to his knees. She landed and ran to him. "Richy," she said. "Are you okay?"

He shook his head, holding his shoulder in pain. 'I have to go see Remy,' he signed, wincing as he moved his arm.

"Why? Are you hurt? I didn't hit you."

'You didn't,' he signed as he walked out, his coughing echoing in the hallway. That was the only sound he could ever muster, and awful coughing noise that sounded like a cat being run over. She watched him go in confusion, shaking her head. Who would hit Richiu?

...

Regaining consciousness, Twitch sat up and looked around. Ben was handing Lory her gloves and a jacket as she stood. He felt dizzy and winded, like someone had hit him in the head with something heavy. He sure did know a lot of ways to hurt. "What happened?" he asked.

"Ah am so sorry about your parents," Lory whispered as Ben led her out. Twitch stood up, confused.

"Wait," he said. "How did you know about--?"

Ben closed the door before he could finish his sentence. "Lorelai," he said. "Are you alright?"

She nodded. "Ahm sorry, ah didn't... ah mean..."

"It's okay, he's not seriously hurt," he said. "He was already stupid to begin with. I was just looking for you anyway. The blood samples that Dr. McCoy took from you had a match."

Her eyes brightened. "Really?" She didn't remember her parents or anything before Fort Four.

"Yes," he said. "We know your parents. As a matter of fact, your mother is on her way now. We called her and she was really happy to hear that we found you."

"Can ah have some names please?" She asked impatiently.

"Your mother was an X-Man," he said. "Her name was Rogue. Your father is named Remy Lebeau."

"And where is he?"

Ben sighed and shook his head. "He's with Magneto," he explained. "He's one of our enemies."

Lorelai was slightly shocked. The memories she did have of her father were pleasant, he seemed like a good man. Holding back her tears, she nodded and smiled. "Thank you," she said softly, going to her room and closing the door. Letting the tears fall, she sat on the bed. How could she believe anything she remembered?

Shaking her head, she smiled to herself. The irony was overwhelming. Well, she thought. At least I have my mother.

...

Remy was in fact busy bandaging Richiu's bruised and broken shoulder when his cell phone went off. "Hold on," he said to the boy. He nodded and turned away as Remy answered the phone. "Hello."

Eyes widening in shock, he stood up, startling Richiu.

"Dey _found_ her??"


	19. The Rogue Returns

Episode 19: The Rogue Returns

Rogue remembered the institute well. She had memories flying through her mind as she stepped out of the car, seeing the gates again and the walkway up to the front doors. The windows glinted in the sunlight, and the beautiful fountain spouted glimmering water to the light dawn sky. She smiled a tiny smile. Everything was exactly the same as it had been, minus the New Mutants destroying the front lawn. Everything was still perfect.

Walking slowly towards the house, chills jumped up her spine as she remembered where Scott's car used to be parked, where Kurt would sit in that large oak tree, where Ororo would come down from the greenhouse to fill the fountain with rain water. She remembered so much about this place, it was like she had never left. Of all of the X-Men, she had stayed away the longest. It was much too painful to stay in the house in which Remy had deceived her. She knew it was going to turn out that way, she knew he was still rotten. And yet she trusted him deeply, and still did trust him to some extent. After all, he was the father of her daughter.

Her daughter was the reason she was here. When her beautiful Lorelai was only four, she disappeared, and she was never seen again. Logan spent months searching to no avail. Rogue had lost her most precious memory, her most beautiful baby to the void of not knowing. All of this time she had evaded Rogue's search, and now here she was, practically a woman.

She sighed. The Professor had called to tell her about her powers. They were not controllable, as Rogue's had been, and she would probably never be able to control them. It was a defect in her brain structure, a switch that couldn't be turned off. This wasn't what she had wanted for her Lorelai. She wouldn't want this for anyone.

Picking at her glove, she realized that she had been standing on the front porch for quite some time. She took a deep breath and gathered the courage to knock. She wondered who would answer. Would it be Jean, and would she still be beautiful? Would it be Henry, and would he still be large and furry? She giggled and hoped that Kurt would answer, so she could hug him. After all this time, she felt elf-deprived.

But it was Scott who opened the door, and just as well-- she punched him soundly in the arm and then threw her arms around his neck. "Scott," she said. "Ahm back."

"Rogue," he said in a choked voice, stepping back. "We haven't seen you in..."

"Ah know," she said. "Sixteen years, right? God, yeh still look great."

"So do you," he smiled and took her hand. "Come on inside. I'm sure the others would love to see you."

Rogue stepped into the living room, feeling the institute cuddle safely around her. She remembered this feeling, this safety she had always sensed here. She had missed it.

"Nein," said a voice from the top of the stairs. "Rogue?"

"Hey Kurt," she said, waving as he slid down the banister. "Been a pirate recently?"

"You bet," he said, pulling her into a tight hug. "Ve missed you, Rogue."

"Ah missed yall too," she said, smiling at him and pulling out of the hug. "Ah heard you found mah little girl."

"She's not so little anymore," Scott said. "Lory, come on out."

Rogue looked at the kitchen door and gasped as her daughter stepped out of it and into the living room. She was a beautiful girl, more beautiful than Rogue remembered, her long hair still thick and pure white, eyes still glittering blue. "Mah baby," she said softly. "Mah Lorelai."

"Mom," Lory whispered as Rogue ran forward and took her shoulders. "Ah remember you."

"Mah baby, mah Lory, ahll never let you go again, never never." Rogue put her arms around her daughter and hugged her gently, letting her tears fall onto Lory's shoulder. "Ah promise ahll never lose you again."

There was another knock on the door, a familiar knock that made Rogue pull away from Lorelai quickly. The faint tapping of a quarterstaff on the door was unforgettable, especially when thats how he had knocked the first time. "What is he doing here?" She growled at Scott.

"We thought he should know that we found her," Scott said nervously. "We didn't think he would show up." Kurt went to open the door, looking shocked and more than a little angry.

"Well, make him leave," Rogue demanded. "Ah don't want to have anything to do with him."

"My little _chere,_" she froze at his voice. "Is that really what you want?"

"Yes," she said weakly as he stepped inside. "Go... go away."

"Dad?" Lory brightened immediately, and she bolted to him, throwing her arms around his waist as though she were four again, and Remy humored her, lifting her a little off the ground.

"Lorelai. Comment je vous ai manqués, ma petite fille." She giggled at his French as he lowered her down. Rogue, tight lipped, folded her arms. "You've grown so much."

"Lory, get avay from him," Kurt growled. "He's nothing more that a scumbag."

"Now, must we be so unkind to poor Remy? After all, he lost his daughter too." Gambit looked saddened by the hostility, but pushed Lory away, back towards Rogue. "But Remy does not go where he is not welcome."

"Since when?" Rogue scoffed.

He frowned. "Vous me détestez toujours."

"Yeah, ah still hate you." She opened the front door and pointed out. "Get out now."

He looked from Rogue's unforgiving green eyes to Scott's scowling face to Kurt's yellow glare. Turning back to the door, he sighed. "Alright," he said. "Fine. Remy is leaving." He stopped to brush a finger across Rogue's bare cheek as he closed the door. "I'm sorry," he whispered as the door snapped shut. She shivered, pressing a hand to the spot, and shook her head.

"Traitor," she muttered.

...

"So what exactly happened?"

Lory looked up from her plate at Kurt, who was dishing food onto it. Her mother had gone somewhere to sulk in peace. "You know, I don't think I know the whole story," he said. "But before you were born, Gambit came here for refuge from Magneto. It turned out that he was spying on us the whole time he was here, and he ran out on us the moment we found out what a rat he was. But before all that, Gambit charmed your mother."

"So, did he really love her, or was he just playing a part?" Lorelai stared out the window, hoping for a good answer.

"I don't think he loved her," Kurt said angrily, sitting across from her. "Jerks like him don't love anybody."

_He loves me,_ she thought to herself.

It just so happened that Rogue was thinking the same thing. She wondered where he was going, and hoped he would be alright. When he was standing a few feet away, with her friends around her, she was brave. But always when he looked into her eyes, when he touched her and whispered to her, she broke. She knew he loved her. She knew with all her heart that she loved him.

And maybe, she thought. Maybe, one day, he will love me enough to come back.


	20. The Gathering

Episode 20: The Gathering

Morning came to the institute as the sun rose, light glinting off of Ben's glasses as he stared at the ceiling. His bed was made, as always, and the never-sleeping mutant stood and walked to his desk, turning off the alarm. No one else was awake, he was sure of that, no one was ever awake at this hour. He sensed a stirring mind, a nightmare in progress. He frowned as he realized it was poor Chloe, and he reached out and calmed the young girl's restless thoughts. Such a small telepathic gesture still tired him out, and he sat on the edge of his bed, breathing slowly. He focused on the blocks around his mind and stood again, ready to wake up his teammates and start an early danger room session. He decided to let Chloe sleep.

He knocked on Johnny's door and heard him groan that he was getting up. Smiling, he proceeded to the other rooms, ending with Eevee's. Knocking softly, he waited for a response. None came, and he knocked again, this time a bit louder. "Eevee," he called. "It's time to get up."

She still didn't answer, so he opened her door. Her form under the blankets were apparent, and she seemed to still be asleep. He squinted as he reached for her mind and sensed nothing. He walked briskly to her bed and pulled the blankets away. He found nothing but a pile of pillows. Growling, he shoved the pillows off the bed. _Eevee,_ he said telepathically. _Report._

There was no reply. At this point he was beginning to be worried. She was always reliable, always ready to get up. She was even normally awake before he knocked on her door. He pushed the worry aside, worrying would only make things worse.

Furrowing his brow, he glanced around the room for some clue. The only one was the open window, and he stepped towards it, touching the window frame. The twisted metal made everything clear. Clenching his fist, his eyes burned as he let out a wild, angry yell. The metal things in the room vibrated violently and he stormed from the room, grabbing Jonah's shoulder as he walked by. "Get everyone together," he said. "Eevee's been kidnapped."

...

"Where are you taking me?"

"Somewhere," Kish said absently, staring straight ahead as he drove, trying not to think about what he was doing. Dominique stared at him expectantly.

"Come on, Kish," she insisted. "Where are we going?"

Kish thought back on the phone call he had made last night after Dom had fallen asleep. "Father," he had said. "I am taking her to a small town just outside of Munich. Meet me there."

"Good boy," Magneto had replied.

"Where's my son?" Kish had asked him urgently. Dominique thought Nathan was safe. The truth was he had been taken by Magneto some weeks before. "Can I talk to him, is he alright?"

"He's just fine," he said. "He's adjusting nicely to the base. I have Gambit watching him. As you know, he has some experience in watching small children."

Kish had shivered, then asked again, "Can I talk to him?"

"No," Magneto had said sternly. "I told you, you will not see nor speak with your son until the key is delivered."

"But you won't hurt them."

"Of course not." Magneto had sounded reassuring, and Kish had relaxed.

Now he drove to the small village, and he had nothing to tell Dominique. He wished he could just explain that he had no choice, that the only chance for all of them was to do what Magneto wanted. He wanted to tell her that Magneto held their lives in his hand, and that Kish would pull them through safely. He wanted to tell her.

But he didn't.

...

Chloe heard the commotion in the hallway, people yelling, running back and forth, and she sat up. She wondered why no one had woken her up yet. Glancing at her clock, she saw that it was seven in the morning.

She poked her head out of her room, still in her pink kitty cat pajamas, and was nearly knocked back by Jonah. He stopped as she cried out angrily. "Sorry, little ma'am," he said. "Why aren't yeh suited up yet?"

"Why are you?" She asked as he ran off. What was going on?

"Hey," Ben said as he passed, stopping as she opened her door completely. "Chloe, you're going to stay here with Johnny, okay?"

"What happened?" She asked loudly, stomping her foot.

"Eevee's been kidnapped," he said. "Stay here, okay?"

"Like heck I will!" She shouted, floating upward a few feet. "I wanna go too!"

Raven walked by calmly, and Ben grabbed her shoulder. "Handle this for me, will you?" he said quickly, running down the hall after Jonah.

"Vhat's wrong?" Raven asked in her cool, dark voice.

"Eevee's been kidnapped and Ben won't let me go on the rescue mission," Chloe said desperately, putting her feet back on the ground. "I wanna save Eevee too. She's my friend you know, not just Ben's!"

"I'm sure dat there's a good reason," Raven said, staring after the team leader. "Vhy don't you suit up and I'll see vhat I can do."

"Thanks Rave," Chloe giggled and threw her arms around her before going back into her room and shutting the door. Raven, who had been startled by this sudden burst of affection, shivered and went to suit up herself. She may not like Eevee that well, but she was a member of the team. Raven had a responsibility that she could not deny.

She was so lost in thought that she walked headlong into Lewis of the Guardians. She let out a small sigh. "Vhen did YOU get here?"

"A few minutes ago," he said, shrugging and grinning. "My whole team's here to help out. Say, your hair looks nice that way."

She scowled and walked past him, not saying a word. No way was she going to put up with this moron for longer than she had to.

...

Hours later and miles away, Remy LeBeau played with Nathan Darkholme. "What's this?" He asked, holding up an apple.

"Apfel," Nathan said in German.

"No," Gambit said. "What's this?"

"Pomme," he said in French, quite confused.

"No. What's this?"

Nathan paused and studied the apple for a full minute while Gambit smiled at him. He didn't want German like Vatti, and he didn't want French, like Maman. He squinted at Gambit and then at the apple. "A... apple?"

"Good boy," Gambit said, ruffling the three-year-old's already messy brown hair. "Apple. Now... what's this?" He held up a playing card.

Nathan was now completely baffled and stood up. "Don vanna play 'nymore."

Remy laughed as the door to the nursery opened and Lance walked in. "It's Nathan's bedtime," he said, sticking his hands in his pockets as Nathan ran to him. Lance accepted the hug and picked him up.

"Au revoir," Gambit said, getting up off the floor.

"Down," Nathan commanded to Lance. Lance put him down and Nathan ran back to Remy, holding out his short arms. "Hug!"

Gambit smiled warmly, remembering a three year old Kish, remembering a three year old Lorelai. "Okay," he said, kneeling and hugging the small boy. When Nathan was satisfied, he went back to Lance, who picked him up. As they left, Remy began to put away the various toys and wondered if this, whatever Magneto was doing, was right. He shook off the thought quickly, knowing that such ideas only led to trouble. He walked out into the hallway and heard Nathan shout something to him.

"Carte," he called. "Card!"

Remy smiled.

...

Eevee was in darkness. She was confused and couldn't move. The room she was in smelled like mold and stale bread, so she figured she was in a pantry of some kind. She could hear someone else moving, so she took a chance. "Hello?" she whispered.

The British accent was unmistakable to Dominique. "Eevee," she whispered back. "It's Dom."

"They have you too?"

"Who has us?" Dominique struggled with her bonds, wishing she could see. "Do you know?"

"Magneto," she said. "I'm sure of it. He came through my window and sprayed me with sleeping gas."

Dominique fell silent and stopped struggling. Kish had taken her to Magneto. The betrayal became apparent quickly, and she felt tears dampen the cloth over her eyes.

"Dom?" Eevee called quietly. "Are you alright?"

"I'm... fine," she said with some effort. "I'm okay."

...

Magneto stared up at the wall in the tomb, looking at the symbols with happiness sparkling in his ice-blue eyes. This was it. The moment he had been waiting, praying for was finally here. Once he woke up this creature, Mutants would inherit the Earth.

"Friends," he said, turning around. The three tall thrones each held a key. In one was Kaylee, sitting proud and strong, representing Athena. In the second sat Eevee Taylor, struggling against the chains that held her hands down, representing Aphrodite. In the third was Dominique Darkholme, head hanging low, tears falling into her lap, representing Hecate. "This day has been long coming. What we are about to see has not happened in millions of years. The Beast..." he waved his hand at the wall. "Is about to be awoken."

The Doctor stood silently in the background, hoping Ben would show up quickly. The beast inside him stirred. It was almost time.

"Now we will see what the power of Mutants can do," he shouted. "Turn on the machine!"

"Not so fast," came a voice from the doorway. There stood two teams united, the leaders standing strong and proud, Maestro of NeXt Gen, Firefly of the Guardians.

Ben folded his arms. "I think it's time we had a little talk."

NEXT: Battle of the Ages!


	21. Battle of the Ages

Episode 21: Battle of the Ages

"Maestro," Magneto said, almost fondly as he looked upon his would-be killer. "I almost believed you wouldn't come. Well done in finding this place."

"You can thank Nico for that," Ben growled.

"Ah, yes, the Madison boy," Magneto looked at the large teenager with interest. "Tell me, did your father manage to decipher any of these runes?"

"Like I would tell you," Nico spat.

"You're not being cooperative," Magneto's eyes narrowed and began to glow. "A big mistake. Now you will all have to die right here. Colossus! Take care of these pests."

The steel mutant armored up and immediately charged. Without so much as lifting a finger, Ben's eyes glinted with a silvery glow beneath his glasses, and Piotr Rasputin was thrown backward, slamming into a stone pillar with a tremendous crash.

Magneto laughed. "Impressive."

"I've been training hard," Ben said coolly, having not taken his eyes off of Magneto. He had one goal, and one goal alone. As Magneto waved his hand for his other Acolytes to attack, Ben charged past them and tackled Magneto to the ground.

Nico braced himself for impact as Colossus charged again, catching the mutant's fist in his own. The two struggled for several moments, each pushing on the other, until Nico slammed foward with every inch of strength in his body. Colossus fell back onto the ground, groaning, as Nico moved back into a defensive stance.

Twitch barely felt the gust of wind behind him as Lew launched into the air to combat Ironhawk. He was himself too busy dodging the powerful sword blows from the mysterious boy he had fought on the grounds of the institute. Richiu swiped again and again, no mercy, no feeling at all. He aimed to kill. Twitch leaped into the air and settled atop a pillar, hoping to escape Richiu.

"I don't want to fight you, petite," Remy said, pulling out a card as he faced his daughter.

"Ah don't wanna fight you either, dad," Lory said, pulling off a glove. "Trouble is, ah have to."

Gambit charged the card in his hand and threw it, watching Lorelai acrobatically flip out of the way. "I am so sorry, Lorelai."

"You're sorry?" Lory made a flying pounce onto him and touched his face. "Maybe you should be home with meh."

Chloe jumped upward as Pietro Maximoff sped around her, creating a whirlwind. "So that's how you play, huh Quicksilver?" Chloe laughed. "Picking on the littlest?"

"No, picking on the strongest!" Pietro used his momentum to pull Chloe from the air and he threw her into a wall. Dust and debris fell from the ceiling as Chloe miraculously picked herself back up.

"It's gunna take a lot more that that to hurt me," Chloe said, her Weapon X side taking over. Pietro looked to Kish for backup, and was shocked when Kish shook his head.

"I can't, I..." Kish looked up at Dominique.

"Joe, cover me!" Jasmine shouted as she charged headlong at Four-arms. The large beast reached out to grab her as a gunshot rang out, hitting dead in the shoulder. Four-arms screamed in pain as Jonah blew the smoke from his pistol.

"Yeh going to be alright on yer own?" Jonah called to Cairo. The dark-skinned boy nodded as Avalanche's earthquake failed to hit its mark. Cairo's own earth powers seemed to be more powerful than that of Lance Alvers.

Raven turned almost immediately to Red Ghost. "This time, I am ready for you," she said darkly. Raven had fought this opponent before and lost. The sad-faced red cloud held out her hands and Raven braced herself. The energy was absorbed and turned back on Red Ghost.

Hector used his gravity powers to lift Flash into the air, and Leo, pulling upon the demon within his nine-year-old body, exploded with dark energy, blasting Flash to an utter pulp. Turning around, Hector and Leo exchanged high-fives, running to help Alan with his battle. Jessie and Alan struggled to free Eevee and Dominique as Kaylee tried to get out of the throne. When she realized she couldn't move, she looked at Magneto in confusion. Wasn't this her choice? Why was she being held there against her will?

It seemed that with the Guardians to help them, the next generation of mutants stood a chance against the mutants who would do harm to the world. It was a battle that would last the ages in legend for mutants everywhere, two teams coming together to prevent the destruction of mankind.

Ben was focused and determined, fighting against his favored enemy, Magneto. As Eric Magnus Lensherr threw iron beams at him, Ben threw them aside, matching his magnetic capabilities with his adversary's. Magneto was not only impressed, but afraid that this fifteen-year-old child would beat him. His helmet barely held against Ben's powerful telepathy. Ben finally managed to get him down on the ground, an iron spike inches from the old man's left eye. Magneto laughed bitterly. "Are you going to kill me, Maestro?"

Ben hesitated, mind flashing back to the day that he had watched Tyler die. Magneto smiled.

"You can't do it, can you?" he taunted.

Ben grimaced, knowing he couldn't, wanting to just get it over with.

"It's too late anyway," Magneto laughed. "The Beast shall awaken at any moment."

Eevee cried out in agony, soon joined by Dominique and Kaylee. Their powers activated, fire combining with darkness combining with mental energy in one great beam, blasting into the large key-hole in the far wall.

The room was filled with the sounds of battle until a scream erupted from the Doctor's cracked, pale lips. Everything fell silent as he fell to his robed knees, clutching at his throat. "No," he whispered hoarsely. "No master, don't kill me, don't... NOOOOOOO!"

Black energy filled his mouth, his ears, his eyes, and flew into the air, the Doctor falling limp. "The Beast," Eevee said softly. "It was using the Doctor as a host."

The Doctor's hood fell back and Lory screamed. She recognized Doctor Harris of Fort Four immediately. Nearly collapsing, she felt Nico's strong arm catch her.

The Beast laughed cruelly, taking the shape of a bull-faced monstrous creature. "Who dares wake me?" he said in a harsh whisper. "Who is my loyal servant, the being who summoned me here?"

Magneto pushed Ben aside and stood. "It was I."

The Beast smiled at him. "Ah, a mutated human being. How foolish."

Magneto stepped back, insulted. "I am one of the higher beings who will inherit the Earth, am I not?"

"No," The Beast howled. "You are doomed!"

NEXT: Doomsday!


	22. Doomsday

Episode 22: Doomsday

One small, wavering voice broke the silence. "Oh my gosh," Chloe whimpered, eyes filling with tears. She had never been so afraid in all of her life, she had never been so willing to give in. As she looked at Ben, his eyes said one thing to her. Don't give up. She nodded and wiped away a tear.

"It's like what C322 said," Lorelai said quietly, remembering her friend. "Mutants and humans... they're the same."

"That's impossible!" Magneto shouted in anger, stepping back further. He felt the outrage of this statement burning in his chest, but deep down, he seemed to know it was true.

"We're all supposed to die too." Twitch looked shocked and in pain. "We're all human beings too."

"Impossible," Magneto repeated, still in complete denial.

"Quite the opposite," The Doctor groaned, standing up, hand holding his injured side. "I have been doing research into the genetic structure of both humans and mutants for fifty years now. The only difference between Homo Sapien and Homo Superior is an extra molecule and an inflated ego."

The Beast laughed. "Exactly. Now I will commence the process of destroying your race. Have a nice time in Hell!"

A bolt of dark energy hit him in the chest, cutting his cackle short. "Not on my watch ya don't!" Leo shouted in his squeaky voice as his hand glowed a deep purple. "We're gunna stop ya dead!"

"Try," The Beast laughed. "I must admit, this may be entertaining."

Ben looked at Gambit, second commander of the Acolytes, and smiled. Gambit nodded and looked at Alan, who's hands were already ablaze. As one, they shouted.

"Mutants, attack!"

As one, the various powers erupted. Beams of light and matter flew at full force at the Beast, creating a tremendous explosion that blinded them all. "That had ta have got him," Chloe shouted happily.

But as the smoke cleared, Chloe realized that the attack had nowhere near got him. He still stood, laughing, howling at them, astounded by his own power. Chloe screamed in fear, backing up behind Jasmine. Jasmine put a hand on her head. "It's gunna be okay," she said soothingly, still trying to convince herself of that.

Lorelai knew that the battle was lost to them. She let her mind relax, knowing that she was the only hope of slowing this thing down. She thought back on C322, her friend from Fort Four. She had never called him by his serial number. To her, his name was Wish. "There is no Beast," she whispered.

"What?" The Beast looked at her.

"There is no Beast," she said a little louder, pulling away from Nico's arms. "There is no Beast."

The creature's glowing eyes narrowed. "What are you babbling about, worthless female?"

The Doctor nodded. _That is his weakness,_ he thought, sending these thoughts to the others. _He only has strength if your are afraid. His power spawns from your anger, your hatred, your very belief in him. Disbelieve!_

"There is no Beast," Chloe said, catching on quickly. The others followed suit, and soon the room was filled with the sound of chanting, _There is no Beast, there is no Beast._

Lorelai focused on the words as she slowly stepped forward, one step at a time, pulling off her glove slowly and purposefully. Everything she could remember of her life before Fort Four fluttered through her mind, the hugs, the gumbo, the singing, strengthening her. Her resolve was like steel, her blue eyes glittering.

The Beast almost didn't notice her as she reached him, placing a pale, thin hand on his shoulder. He howled in pain, pulling away, as Lory felt the same burning sensation and whimpered. She could not pull her hand off of his skin as it smoked and stung. Tears leaked from the corner of her eye as she squeezed them shut. The Beast's power flowed into her. Everything she did seemed to take lifetimes, every movement and thought was complete agony.

Nico stepped forward and Gambit put a hand on his arm. "She's the only one who can stop this," he said. Nico furrowed his brow and nodded.

"Stop this, female," The Beast growled angrily, already reverting back into a cloud.

"There," she said softly. "Is..."

"Stop," The Beast holwed.

"No," she cried. "Beast!!"

The creature screamed in pain, vaporizing in a black, inky cloud that rushed towards the Doctor and re-entered his body. Doctor Harris accepted the thing and held his stomach. "Back where you belong, _master,"_ he laughed.

Magneto sat on the remains of a pillar, in complete shock. "I didn't... I never knew..."

Ben looked at him. "We all make mistakes," he said.

"It's just that some people make mistakes so huge that they manage to threaten the entire planet," Lew laughed. Alan punched his shoulder. "Ow! What, it's true!"

"Shut up," Alan said.

"Nice job," Lew added as Alan walked away.

Ben ran to the base of the pillar that Eevee sat on. "Eevee! Can you hear me? I'm coming up!" Using his magnetic power, he levitated to the top of the Aphrodite throne. Eevee moaned as he broke her chains.

"Hey Benny," she whispered. "How are you?"

"I'm fine," he said. "I'm just worried about you. You okay?"

"Yeah," she said. "I'm okay."

Ben picked her up and floated back to the ground. "We're going to take you home now, okay?"

"Okay."

Kish teleported to Dominique, touching her face. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "God I am so sorry."

"I know you are," Dom said softly. "It's okay."

"It is?" Kish looked surprised. "You're not going to hit me?"

"Not right now," she said. "When I get my strength back I am going to kick your ass."

Magneto freed Kaylee and she floated down from the throne, looking accusingly at him. "I thought this was my choice," she said. "But you forced me into that chair. You kept me there when I changed my mind."

"If that is what you choose to believe." Magneto stood as tall as he could, still aching inside from his recent revelation.

"I know you hit Richiu too," she said, taking Richiu's hand. "And now I am going to make a choice I should have made a long time ago."

Richiu looked at her, confused. He quickly signed out a few words.

"Yes Richiu," she said. "We're leaving. He's hurting us and we deserve better." She looked at Magneto. "Don't we?"

Magneto looked at them sadly and nodded. "You do." He looked away. "I'm sorry. To all of you, I am deeply sorry."

"That's okay," Kish said. Dom hit him audibly. "Ow!"

"I will not hold any of you any longer," he continued, looking at Piotr. "Your sister is free. Go and retrieve her whenever you like."

Colossus nodded.

"Gambit, I will no longer pay you. You are free to go."

Gambit was helping Lorelai up as he smiled at him. "You saying you're firing me?"

"Exactly."

Remy smiled at Lory. "I'm coming home."

Lory smiled back. "Ahm glad."

"Are you going to let me go, Ben?" Magneto asked, looking at him. Ben nodded.

"But don't think this is over," Ben added. "You're still dead if I see you again."

"Of course."

Lew looked around. "Okay, anybody need a ride home?"

...

Ben sat in the lonely chair by the window on Christmas Eve, looking over the room at his teammates, his family. Lory excitedly opened her first present, while Remy and Rogue looked on fondly. Johnny and Chloe chased each other across the room, playing with Johnny's newest model jet. Nathan tugged on Richiu's pony tail and Kaylee giggled. Someone's new puppy scampered under everyone's feet. Jonah showed everyone who would look that he had received a new hat.

Smiling to himself, he realized that this was what happiness was like. He had gotten this family a long while ago, and now he knew what he was there for. He was there to help people, to change lives, to be there for his comrades. He laughed with everyone as Illyana Rasputin sang "Tomorrow" from Annie. He cried with everyone as Jonah recited a story about his long-lost brother in the old west. He settled down with a warm, new feeling in his mind, something he wasn't used to. It was called peace.

...

Peace only lasts so long, however. He went to bed like everyone else, sitting at his desk. The Doctor had yet to tell him who he was. Tonight was the night, after years of waiting, that he would find out.

He was in the shadows and Ben knew it. "Well?"

The Doctor stepped out of the shadows and into the moonlight that streamed into the dark room. "You are ready, my child."

Ben looked at him. "Just get it over with, Harris, I've been waiting a long time."

The Doctor laughed. "You have fulfilled your end of the bargain. Now it is my turn to fulfill mine. I used the DNA of two powerful mutants to create you. One is Professor Charles Xavier."

"I figured as much," Ben shrugged. "And the second?"

The Doctor laughed again. "I am not altogether sure that you want to know."

Ben glared. "TELL me."

"Your other half," Harris said, pausing for effect. "Is Eric Magnus Lensherr, alias Magneto."

Ben stared at him in shock, mouth hanging open.

"Good night, Maestro," The Doctor whispered as he disappeared. "Sweet dreams."

END OF SEASON ONE

NEXT SEASON: A COSMIC DISTURBANCE!


	23. The Loss of a Hero

SEASON TWO

Episode 1: The Loss of a Hero

"Okay Johnny, pay attention."

"Hwa?" Johnny looked up from his gameboy. He was sitting in the back of the X-Jet, bored as he could possibly be. His father and Kurt were taking him out on an easy mission to see if he was ready to be a leader of the Beta Team. It had been nearly a year since he lost his memory, he was a year older, and still they had to test him.

"This is going to be a simple mission, just the three of us versus Quicksilver, okay?" Scott said. "We just want to test your skills and all of your new training."

"Yeah, sure, okay," he said, waving him off and getting back to his video game. He was so absorbed in it that he didn't notice his father walking over to him after handing the controls to Kurt. Scott pulled the game out of his hands. "Hey! What's the big idea??"

"You see? That's exactly what I'm talking about." Scott folded his arms. "You have to be aware of your surroundings. That's the only way you can lead a team."

"Hey, if I did it before I lost my memory, I can do it now, right?" Johnny shrugged and grinned. "No big deal, I've been training for a year. I can handle it!"

"We'll see in a moment," he said sternly. "We're there."

As the three mutants stepped off of the jet, Kurt looked around. The trees that surrounded them covered them in a green-tinted sunshine. "I hear him already," he said, grinning. "Moron."

"Never take the enemy lightly Johnny," Scott said, glaring at Kurt. "Nightcrawler, scout the area."

Kurt saluted him sarcastically. "Yessir, Cyclops sir!" he shouted as he teleported.

"God, what an idiot," Scott groaned.

"So when do we fight this creep?" Johnny looked around and shrugged. "I don't see him anywhere."

"In a moment, son," he said. "Wait for Nightcrawler to get back."

...

_Five-year-old Johnny Summers reached out and touched the stove, immediately pulling it away and yelping in intense pain. "Mommy," he cried. "Daddy, ouch!"_

_Scott rushed in. "Johnny, what is it?"_

_"The stove bit me," Johnny sobbed, holding his hand protectively to his chest. "It hurts. Make it stop hurting."_

_"Here, we just run some cold water over it," Scott picked him up and sat him on the counter. He took Johnny's hand and put it under the faucet, turning on the cold water. Johnny felt immediate relief and sighed. _

_"Thanks daddy..."_

_"The stove didn't bite you, kiddo," he said. "It was just hot. You have to be careful, and always check something out before you go and touch it, okay? If you had put your hand a few inches away from the stove, you would have felt the heat radiating off of it."_

_Johnny nodded. "Check it, then touch it. Got it."_

_"That's my boy," Scott smiled and ruffled Johnny's hair, getting him off of the counter and walking out. Johnny watched him go, holding his wrist and grinning._

_That's my boy._

...

"That's my boy."

Johnny sighed and sat on a log. "Now what did I do?"

"You're being patient, waiting for Nightcrawler to scout out the area." Scott smiled. "That's what a stealth member is for. Always let the stealth member go out first, and when he comes back you can formulate a plan."

"But what if you just wanna PUNCH somethin'?" Johnny said anxiously. "And what if your team doesn't HAVE a stealth member?"

"Then you improvise."

Johnny grinned. "Improvise? Now THAT sounds like fun!"

Nightcrawler telelported back into the clearing. "All clear. I saw him about a mile from here though, heading right this way."

Scott glared at him. "That's what you call 'all clear'?"

"Oh come on, Quicksilver's a pushover," Kurt laughed.

"Don't say that in front of Johnny," Scott growled. "Now come on. We have to retrieve those plans."

"Can I run ahead?" Johnny begged. "Please?"

"No, stick with your team," Scott said sternly.

...

_Ten years old. "This is your new teammate."_

_Johnny folded his arms, staring across the danger room at boring old Ben. "HIM? THIS is my new teammate?"_

_Scott smiled at him. "Now, be friendly. Ben has a lot he can teach you about being on a real team."_

_The eleven-year-old winked at him. "Think you can beat me?" he asked in his scratchy voice, glasses glinting. "I've been on a REAL team, and you only just got your powers."_

_"That doesn't mean I can't beat you!" Johnny clenched his fists. "You're not better than me."_

_"On the contrary..."_

_"Boys, boys," Scott said, holding up his hands. "Be nice. You're a team now, the two of you and Eevee Taylor."_

_Both boys looked at him. "EEVEE TAYLOR? Blech!!"_

_Scott laughed. "Maybe you two aren't so different after all."_

...

Johnny stood behind Scott as he looked out into the clearing. Kurt crept back into the brush and looked at them. "There he is," Kurt said, pointing out the clearly visible silver-haired mutant. "Maybe he should dye his hair camouflage."

"Shut up," Scott said. "Stop goofing off, we see him."

"Let's kick his butt," Johnny cackled quietly.

"No, wait for my--"

"Yahoo!" Kurt leaped out of their hiding place as Pietro spotted them. "Hello my speedy friend, what's cooking?"

"You are," Pietro laughed, folding his arms.

"Ooooo, good one, got any more in your empty head?"

"Kurt," Scott growled. "You idiot."

"If he jumped out, can I jump out?' Johnny looked up at Scott hopefully.

"Might as well," Scott said dully, adjusting his visor and stepped out.

...

_"Guys, if you don't stop fighting, we'll never get anywhere!"_

_"Shut up, I don't listen to GIRLS," Johnny shouted, sticking his tongue out. Ben sighed and shook his head in despair. His first new teammates and they were acting like babies. They would never defeat Magneto like this._

_"Maybe you should listen to girls!" Eevee snapped. "Science proves that men only use half of their brain."_

_"So what, you girls use none of yours."_

_"Be quiet you two," Ben scolded. "Now listen up. Three robots are going to walk out of that door. Got it?"_

_"Got it," Eevee nodded enthusiastically. _

_"Huh, this is gunna be easy." Johnny powered up his telekineses and prepared for a real fight._

...

Johnny was just turning around to congratulate himself. Pietro had gone down easy, like all the others in the Danger room. He wondered sometimes why the bad guys even bothered to try. Smiling, he was shocked as Kurt cried out and Scott leaped in front of Johnny.

The noise was deafening, and a dull ringing filled his ears. He screamed and could not hear. Flash, he thought. A sonic blast. He was just barely remembering what one of those sonic blast could do when his father collapsed in front of him, uniform tattered and eyes glazed over and staring at the sky.

"It's a trap," Kurt screamed as Ironhawk flew down and help Pietro up. Flash laughed at them as he stepped out of the trees.

"Daddy," Johnny shrieked, dropping to his knees. "Daddy! Wake up!"

"Johnny," he whispered. "Run."

"Dad," Johnny sobbed. "Come on, you're coming with us."

Kurt grabbed his shoulder. "Johnny, we have to go, we're outnumbered."

"But dad--!"

"I'm not going to make it, kiddo," Scott breathed. "Run. Run as fast as you can."

...

_Eleven years old. "As fast as I can?"_

_"Yes, Johnny, all the way around the track twenty times at full speed," Scott said, hooking up the timer that Forge had built. "This thing is going to track your speed. Don't take it off."_

_Johnny nodded happily. "Great, now when Ben asks how I'm better, I can give him an actual number."_

_"Enough," Jean laughed. "Seriously, are you two always fighting?"_

_"Yup," Johnny said, preparing for his run. "And it's gunna stay that way, too."_

_"Alright, get ready," Scott said, looking at his watch. "On your mark, get set..."_

...

"Go!"

Kurt yanked on his arm and Johnny was shocked out of his memory, looking up and jumping to his feet. "Go," Kurt repeated, pushing Johnny away from Scott. Johnny wiped his nose on his hand and bolted. As fast as I can, he thought. Dad told me to go as fast as I can.

Wind blasted past his face, burning his skin, drying his tear-drenched cheeks. Dad is going to be okay, he assured himself. He was always okay. He always came back from his missions. He was going to be just fine.

He made it to the jet almost as Nightcrawler appeared there in a cloud of sulfur, Scott over his shoulder. Kurt pushed Johnny to the back of the blackbird and sat in the pilot's seat. He didn't say a word as he took off, trying his best not to look at the copilot seat where he had dropped Scott.

"Is he gonna to be okay?" Johnny asked meekly after a few moments of silence.

"I don't know," Kurt whispered. "I hope so."

...

"You can't stay in here, Johnny," Hank said, taking his shoulders and steering him out of the infirmary. "I'll do my best."

"Just tell me he'll be okay," Johnny begged. Hank flinched as the teen looked at him pleadingly. No young face should ever look like that, the old doctor thought to himself.

"I'll do my best," he repeated. "Go sit in the waiting room."

Kurt looked at him as he returned. "Well, Henry? Can you help him?"

Henry McCoy looked sadly from Scott's bed to Kurt's despair-filled eyes. He slowly shook his head.

Johnny, watching from the doorway, barely felt the single tear fall from his cheek. It splashed onto the linoleum tile floor, soundless.

NEXT: To Pay Respects


	24. To Pay Respects

Disclaimer: I do not own the X-men, namely Kurt, Kitty, Tabitha, Amara, Xavier, Magneto, Scott, Rogue, Gambit, Wolverine, X23, or Alex Summers (ect, ect...) but I own all of my original characters. I also don't own Steel Magnolias...

Episode 2: To Pay Respects

_It was dark that night, and cold as I recall, for I clearly remember having to wear a coat over my shoulders. I believe it may have belonged to Erik, who had accompanied me on this fairly important mission. A mutant girl had finally appeared on our scans. We had been working on Cerebro for almost a year, and Erik had nearly given up in searching for promising young people. One morning, I found her: Ariana. _

_Ariana was a special girl, even for mutant standards. Her powers were not only dangerous but uncontrollable as well, and she frequently hurt family and friends by mistake. The first day we met her she had harmed her older brother over a dispute about a jar of cookies. Erik saw promise in her. I saw someone who needed our help. _

_She was young, and frightened, very small for her age and quite pretty already. She had delicate features that disguised her extreme abilities. Erik and I had several arguments about what to do with the girl. Keeping her in confinement seemed to be the most logical option, though it seemed wrong to do that to someone so young and new to the world. Erik argued that we could use her power to further our goals, but I strongly disagreed. We finally decided isolation until control was obtained was our best plan._

_The night we went to retrieve her is one of the most shameful and terrible memories I hold in my possession. I have never done anything so revolting before or since, or so I hope. We tracked her down, captured her, locked her away. She has been hidden away in my school's infirmary ever since that day. _

_Years of attempted control lessons did not work. Years of explaining did not calm her. She grew angrier by the day, more powerful by the minute. Erik agreed she should be put away for a time when he realized even he, the Master of Magnetism, could not hold her. There she lies, in as comfortable a bed as I could provide, with the best medical help I could buy, and still she sleeps. _

_I fear she may be waking up._

...

The Professor looked up from his journal, startled. Kurt walked in, holding the door open with his tail, and set a large box on the chair across from the desk. "I got everything I could find," he said. "Scott's stuff."

"Is this really everything?" Xavier said wearily, feeling the weight return to his shoulders and chest. Scott was dead. His Scott was dead.

"Even the stuff I scrounged up in the basement," he said. "Old school stuff, wedding pictures..." He reached into the box and pulled out a handful of worn-out ruby quartz sunglasses. "A ton of these."

"Give one to me," he said, holding out an old, shaky hand. He accepted the pair that Kurt placed in his palm and set it carefully on the corner of his desk. I will miss you, he thought, Scott Summers.

"Jean's taking it okay, as far as I can tell," Kurt said sadly, settling into a chair. "Rogue won't come out of her room, Gambit's been standing at her door all week now. The funeral promises to have a pretty big turn-out."

"Tonight," Xavier said. "Will you be there?"

"Of course," Kurt replied, voice cracking only a little. "What kind of best friend would I be if I wasn't there? Kitty won't have Karl with a babysitter, so we have to bring him along."

"Have you spoken to John yet?"

Kurt flinched. "Johnny... didn't take all of this so well."

There was a short burst of wind around the room, and the pair of ruby quartz glasses in Kurt's hand was gone. Kurt stared at his empty palm sadly. "He's not taking it well at all."

...

Johnny fell back onto his bed, bouncing a bit before settling down. He held the glasses above his face, looking through them. "So this is what the world was like for you," he said to himself quietly. He put the glasses on and sat up, pushing his hair back with a single shaking hand. Fifteen and no father. He shook his head. His father was supposed to see him lead Beta Team again.

But wait, he thought suddenly. I was teammates with Ben and Eevee once. He had remembered bits and pieces of the training sessions with them.

"Now isn't the time," He said, standing. He had to get a suit on. He opened his closet and looked at the black suit his mother had gotten for him. Lifting one sleeve mournfully, he stuck out his tongue. "What would dad wear? Not a stupid suit like this."

His eyes flickered to the back corner of the closet, where his uniform was. He had shoved it back there the night his father had died. He had sworn never to wear it again. He pulled it out and looked it over, pulling a piece of lint off of it thoughtfully. "This," he said. "Dad would wear this."

...

Jean jumped as the knock sounded through the Summers living room. Getting up from the couch covered in used tissues, she pulled her robe closer to herself and crossed the room, opening the door. "Hello?" she sounded terrible even to herself.

"Yo," Tabitha Smith let herself in, walking past Jean, followed by Amara. "No one here, right?"

"Just Rachel," Jean said, sitting back down. "You caught me at a pretty bad time."

"We just wanted to see if you were okay," Amara found a place to sit after moving a few photo albums.

"Do I look okay?" Jean said, annoyed as she blew her nose again. Tabitha folded her arms.

"I called Kitty and Rogue." Tabitha looked determined. "They are coming over and we are going to watch Steel Magnolias and whatever other chick flicks we can get our hands on."

"What?" Jean shook her head. "No, I want to be alone."

"You've been alone for two weeks, Jeanie," Amara said quietly. "We just want to spend time with you."

Jean leaned back into the couch and sighed. "You all feel bad for me."

"No," Tabitha said.

"I mean, Rogue has Remy, and Kitty has Kurt, or so she says, and you guys have each other," she said insistingly. "You don't feel sorry for me?"

"Sure we feel bad," Amara said. "But it's sort of a friend pity, not an annoying pity."

Jean smiled weakly at them. "Alright, fine. When are the other two getting here?" The door bell rang and Jean laughed. "Thanks you guys."

"No problem," Amara said gently, putting a hand on Jean's shoulder as Tabitha got up to let the others inside.

...

Ben sat next to Johnny. The funeral was over, everyone was clearing out, and Johnny was still sitting on the bench a little ways away from the grave. "Why the Hell are you wearing those glasses?" He asked in his steadily deepening voice. His vocal cords were finally catching up to his sixteen-year-old body.

"They're dads," Johnny shrugged. "I guess they make me feel like I'm near him."

"You were lucky to have Scott for a dad," Ben said. "You were lucky to have a dad at all."

"You didn't have one?" Johnny looked at him. There were still chunks of his memory he couldn't hold onto.

"No," he said. "I grew up in an orphanage. I guess I have a dad now. The Professor was happy to hear that I'm a clone of him."

"But what about the--"

"Don't bring that up," Ben said darkly. "I will hit you."

Johnny fell silent. Ben had gotten considerably meaner over the past year, after NeXt Gen had defeated the Beast. Everyone had changed. Raven never spoke to anyone anymore, always reading or locked in her room, or both. Chloe had discovered camouflage clothing, leather, and martial arts, slowly becoming a smaller, female Logan. Jonah and Jasmine were getting closer every day, spending almost all of their time together, though they denied any kind of romantic relationship. Eevee was becoming strongly academic, studying harder than any living person should have to. Twitch was easily the best example of change, running around with Dani almost all of the time, constantly struggling to keep his appearance a secret, ridiculous and slightly funny considering that Dani was blind. Lorelai and Nico had moved from friends to flirty games to hiding out in each other's rooms, completely ignoring Lory's inability to touch another person's skin. And Kaylee and Richiu were still new to everyone, both rather reclusive and annoyingly stuck-up, Richiu especially so.

Ben seemed to have changed completely and remain exactly the same way all at the same time. Johnny was constantly baffled by the broody boy, as was everyone.

"Since you're already in uniform," Ben broke Johnny from his thoughts. "Want to mess around in the danger room?"

"Sure, alright," Johnny said, getting up and stretching. Glancing over at the grave, he stopped. Ben noticed his hesitation and touched his arm.

"We'll all miss him," Ben said softly, a little more tender than usual.

Johnny nodded and the two retreated into the house.

...

"Hello?" Alexis called quietly, wandering out into an empty hall. "Can somebody help me?" Looking around, she sighed. "I'm lost."

Being lost isn't so bad, she thought to herself, taking a few steps down the hall. The infirmary wasn't _that _big, she would find her father and grandpa somewhere. Alex, her father, had promised to let her watch Hank work for a few hours. She had done so happily. The trouble was, she couldn't find her way back to the main house.

She felt for sure someone was following her, the narrow hallway giving her the creeps. "C-cousin Johnny?" she whispered, turning her head to look back. "Are you there?" There was no one, but she refused to relax. "Ben? Joey? Nico?"

A wild thought popped into her head, her young age getting in the way of her superior intelligence. "Uncle _Scott?"_ she said in a hushed voice, hoping to God and anyone else who happened to be listening that ghosts were stupid and not real.

Walking past a padlocked door, she became suddenly cold and shaky. She stopped walking and stood next to the door, staring straight ahead at the far wall, not wanting to look at the small window in the door beside her and at the same time, wanting to. She felt like someone was staring at her. Slowly taking in a deep breath, she slowly turned her head to look up at the window looking into the room beyond the door.

Looking down at her was a pale-faced, fair-haired girl, bright and pale blue eyes staring down at Alexis, one hand pressed against the cold glass. The ten-year-old's mind battled with her mother's rage and her father's sensibility. Neither won. Instead, she did what any young child would do.

She screamed.

NEXT: Ariana, Jonah and Apple Fritters


	25. Ariana, Jonah and Apple Fritters

Disclaimer: I do not own the X-men

Episode 3: Ariana, Jonah and Apple Fritters

The girl with the pale face quickly put a finger to her lips, eyes widening as Alexis screamed. Alexis stepped back, voice faltering as she saw that it was, in fact, a real person. Looking from the girl's crystal clear eyes to the locks on the door, Alexis became curious about her. She couldn't stop herself as she unlocked the door and pushed it open.

She was small and thin, with an almost porcelain-like complexion. Her fair blond curls hung loosely around her face, framing her sharp cheekbones and tiny nose. She almost looked like a china doll, shivering in her hospital gown, blinking in the sudden light from the hallway. "Where am I?" she asked. "What is this place?"

"This is the infirmary," Alexis answered hesitantly. "I've never seen you before, who are you?"

"Where is this infirmary located?" the girl said, ignoring Alexis' question.

"Um, the institute?" Alexis watched the girl as she stepped into the hall and looked around. "Xavier's institute?"

"I don't... remember..." She said. "Xavier? I know that name."

"Who are you?" Alexis repeated.

The girl seemed lost, standing in the center of the hallway under the blinding light. She looked like a ghost, hands held to her chest in a motion of fear and confusion. "My name is... Ariana." She whispered. "I don't know this place. Can you help me?"

Alexis nodded. "Maybe you're hungry. Wait here, I'll be right back."

...

Jonah looked at Ben across the table. "Yeh alright?" he asked, spooning a lump of cereal into his mouth. "Look a little down, friend."

Ben shrugged. "I guess it's nothing."

"Don't look like it's nothin'." Jonah pointed at Ben. "You've been like that for a good two weeks now. Mopin', wanderin' around. What's wrong with yeh?"

"There's this friend I have," Ben started. "Well, he's my friend's cousin."

"Okay..." Jonah urged him along, knowing how this game worked. Jasmine pulled the 'I have this friend' thing all the time.

"And my friend's cousin wants to talk to this girl," he said. "But he doesn't know how. I mean, doesn't want to. Or, I don't know."

"Well, why doesn't he just talk to her?" Jonah suggested, playing along.

"I don't know, it's not me," Ben said defensively.

"Right," Jonah smiled and nodded. "O' course. It ain't you. Well, if ah knew this friend's cousin, and ah was talkin' to him, ah would tell him that girls ain't that scary. Ah mean, they're kinda nice once yeh open up to 'em."

"They are?" Ben asked uncertainly.

"Yeah," he said. "So tell your friend's cousin there ain't nothin' to be scared of."

"Right," he said. "So... I'll go call him right now."

"You do that," Jonah gave him a thumbs up and smiled at him. "Tell me what he says, okay?"

"Alright," Ben waved as he got up and walked out of the kitchen. He was nearly run over as Alexis ran in. "Watch it!"

"Sorry Benny," she squealed. "'Scuse me, Joey?"

"Yeah half-pint?" Jonah said, looking up at her.

"Do we have anything like granola bars or something?"

"Ah don't know, let me look," he said, standing and walking to the cabinet. "Ah think we have... ow."

"What is it?" Ben watched from the doorway. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Jonah said, putting a hand on his forehead. "Yeah, ah just saw..." He leaned against the counter, hand over his eyes, and slid to the floor.

"Jonah," Ben rushed over. "What's wrong?"

"Ah don't know," he said, looking at Ben and shaking his head. "It's almost like ahm fading back and forth..."

"Between what?" Alexis asked.

"Between here and..." he paused, pulling off his hat and looking at it. "...home."

"Come on," Ben said, helping him to his feet. "Let me get you to the infirmary."

"Um, I'll take him," Alexis said. "I have to go up there anyway."

"Sure," Ben said, steering Jonah out of the kitchen. "Can you walk?"

"Ahm fine." Jonah nodded, holding his hat protectively, like a security blanket.

...

"I brought you apple fritters," Twitch handed them to Dani as a peace offering. "I'm sorry, Dan."

"Don't 'I'm sorry' me," she said angrily. "You were an hour late! You didn't even call."

"I had to take Johnny to the doctor's," he said.

"Johnny, that's your sick friend, right?" she said. "How is he?"

"His father just died, he's doing horrible," Twitch said miserably. "He even hates beating me at scrabble now."

"Jake," she said, smiling. "You're sweet. I forgive you."

"You do?"

"Yeah," she said. "Thanks for the fritters."

"No problem," he said. "I made them. Um, if there's like, fur in them, that was my cat, he gets on the counters."

"It's okay," she said. "Um... Jake?"

"What?"

"Are you going to kiss me eventually?"

Twitch froze up, letting out a squeaking sound. "Ahm..."

"Is that a no?" she said. "I don't know what I look like, but I know I am not ugly."

"No," he said. "No, you're beautiful, you are, but... It's not you, it's me."

"Of course," she said. "It's not me. As usual. That's what they all say. I thought you were different, Jake."

"But Dani..."

"Just take me home." She folded her arms over her chest, obviously upset.

"Sure Dan," Twitch said sadly.

...

"You must be having some sort of mental attack," Hank said softly, trying to calm Jonah down.

"Ah already told all of yall, ah am not crazy!" Jonah cried. "Why doesn't anyone believe me?"

"I don't know how to explain this to you, Jonah," Hank said. "There is no possible way that you are from 1885. There really is no way. Do you understand?"

"Well, there must be a way," Jonah said angrily. "Because ah know what ah remember, and ah know ah remember 1885!"

"I am going to let you calm down," Dr. McCoy stood up and started to leave the room. "Alright? Get some rest. I promise, I'm trying to help you... whatever the truth may be."

...

"Ariana?" Alexis walked back into the previously locked room. "I brought you some food. Are you okay?"

She was sitting on the bed as she looked at her new friend and nodded. "Yeah, I'm okay."

"How old are you?"

"Um..." Ariana looked uncertain. "I feel seven, but... I know I can't be anymore. I think..."

"You look around sixteen," Alexis tried to help.

"Oh," she said. "How long have I been here...?"

"I don't know," Alexis said quietly. "I've only been here a year myself. I'm sorry Ariana. I could call the doctor..."

"Don't," she said suddenly. "Lock the door when you leave."

"Why?"

"No one can know I'm awake," Ariana said. "For some reason, I think if I'm awake, something bad is going to happen, something ELSE is going to wake up. I'm sorry, but you have to lock me back in. There's someone I'm not supposed to meet."

"Calm down," Alexis said. "You need help. Let me help you."

"I can't," she said. "I can't wake up."

"Try," Alexis pleaded. "I'll go get the professor--"

"Alexis?" The Professor rolled in, followed by Doctor McCoy. "Please leave. Now."

"Oooo no," Ariana moaned, hiding her face in her hands.

"What are you going to do to her?" Alexis demanded.

"Please go, this is none of your concern," Dr. McCoy steered the small girl out of the room.

"Ariana," Alexis cried. "What's he going to do?!"

"I'm sorry my dear," the Professor touched Ariana's forehead.

Ariana grabbed the Professor's wrist. "It's too late," she said, in a voice so completely different than the soft voice she had used before. Her blue eyes darkened to red. "You're too late, old man."

Xavier pulled away. "Where did it awaken?"

"You'll see, in time," the unnatural voice said. "It's closer than you think." Ariana gasped as her eyes turned blue again. "Uhn..."

"Ariana," Xavier said. "Where is it?"

"I... don't know..." she shook her head. "But it's out now."

"Then I pray we won't find it too late," Xavier said, rolling out. "Henry, take care of the girl."

"What's going on?" Alexis said softly, clutching at Hank's arm.

"I hope it's nothing you need to worry about," Hank said, patting her head and going into Ariana's room. Alexis watched until the door was closed.

"I hope so to," she whispered, running off.

NEXT: Time


	26. Three Parter Warning

Three parter warning: For the next three episodes, we will remain on one storyline that may confuse some people, for it deals with time travel and characters that have not been born yet. For those who play in the RPGs, you will understand better than those who don't. Please try to follow along as best you can.


End file.
